JCA: Dragon Heart
by Shadowhero93
Summary: What if some events never happened, or differed from how they were supposed to? Well, we're gonna find out. (Mature warning! There will be sex scenes in this story!)
1. Chapter 1

_•Southern China: Somewhere near Hong Kong•_

"Thanks for letting me come along on this archelogical dig, professor."

a jeep is seen driving across a grassy and dirt area, several pits having been dug out and wooden ladders having been placed leaning against

Several archeologists and workers were coming and going, chatting about things, though what exactly those were were unknown as they sped by.

"Its no problem, alex." Jackie said.

The man, named Alex, looked around, seeing several old tablets and other artifacts being dug up, dusted off and otherwise cleaned or even being put back together.

"What have we found so far?" Alex asked.

"Normal things so far. I heard a professor this morning say that we may be close to discovering something huge." Jackie answered, the jeep taking a sharp turn.

The turn made the smaller males messy brown hair go in front of his eyes, and it took him a couple of minutes to fix it.

It was just lucky his glasses didnt fly off, or he'd be as blind as a bat without them, plus, his prescription was VERY specific, and not many eye doctors or even companies could work with it.

That, and it was very expensive to pay for them.

So he always took good care of them as a result.

The jeep soon came to a slow stop, and all three of them got out, walking towards a giant pit several layers deep with workers and archeologists milling about it, artifacts strewn about the dirt and even in small baskets.

They both stopped at the edge of the pit, looking down into it.

"Woah.."

"Yes, its very deep, in fact-"

"Mr. Chan! We have found something! I think you need to come see this!"

Both Alex and Jackie climbed down several ladders and were soon at the bottom of the pit, where several workers seemed to be trying to pry something open.

"Is that a door?"

"It looks like a stone door, wonder what its doing buried here?"

"Maybe someone was trying to hide something? It would be the best place."

A loud shifting sound echoed around, as the stone door was lifted and opened, revealing a staircase leading down into pitch black darkness.

"Well, what are we waiting for?"

Alex grabbed a respirator and a flashlight from a nearby bag, before starting to head down into the passage.

"Wait for me!"

Jackie did the same, and soon caught up with him, noticing the passage was made out of some kind of strange stone brick.

"You need to be careful, who knows what could be down here."

"Sorry."

"Its alright, just think before you act next time."

Alex was impulsive to a fault, while that usually wasn't a bad thing per say, but it got in the way sometimes.

They continued down the stairs, till they opened up to a seemingly large room, but it was impossible to see much of anything as it was entirely pitch black minus the light coming from their flashlights.

"This room seems big."

"It does, but its pitch black in here."

"Hmm..i think i have an idea."

Alex dug through his pockets, pulling out a metal lighter, which he pushed on the button a few times till a small flame flickered to life.

He then walked over to the wall, and placed the lighter into a sort of small bowl filled with gunpowder, which instantlt ignited and sent a spark down a path, lighting several torches along the walls till the room was lit up like a christmas tree, everything being bathed in an orangish glow.

"There, much better."

"Uh..Alex.."

"Wh-WHOA."

The room was like an archeologist's dream, old vases with scrolls inside them littered the floor, even though some were broken, tapestries hung on the walls covered from likely centuries of dust as well as other assorted treasures from dynasty's past.

"This is incredible, professor.."

"Definitely, but i'll go get the crew down here with some tools and to help carry this stuff out, just stay put till i get back."

Alex gave a thumbs up as Jackie went back up the stairs, his footsteps becoming quieter, till the room became silent, and yet, something didn't feel right.

Upon setting his eye's onto the back wall of the room, the hair's on the back of his neck stood up on end, so he set the lighter back into his pocket and walked to the wall, but didn't see anything particularly off about it.

It felt solid, but just to be sure, he knocked against it like one would a door, till he hit a spot that wasn't solid, in fact, it felt hollow on the other side.

"What could be behind this wall?"

He took a small step back, his foot stepping on a small brick which caused the walk to spin around and dump him out into another pitch black room.

He got up and dusted himself off, before running back over to the wall and began to bang his fists against it, trying to make as much noise as possible.

"Alex?"

He heard Jackie walk around abit, so he pounded harder on the wall to get his attention, hoping he could hear it.

He let out a sigh of relief as he heard Jackie drop his tools and ran over to the wall, hearing him place his hands against it.

"Alex, is that you back there, you aren't hurt are you?"

"Yeah im ok, don't worry, but i think i found a hidden room!"

"Can you get out?"

Alex tried pushing on the wall, but it didn't budge an inch, course he wasn't that strong to begin with but that was something for another time.

"Not from this side. I'll take a look around, see if i find another way."

Jackie really had no other ideas, he couldn't deny alex was right, maybe there was another way out.

"Ok, just be careful, we'll work to get this wall open."

"Alright, i'll be careful."

He picked up his flashlight and flicked the switch, the light coming on which illuminated his feet.

"At least it's working, but that doesn't make me feel any less stupid."

He walked around, using the flashlight to see where he was going to make sure he didnt trip over anything.

His flashlight stopped on something hanging on the far wall, which took him a moment to actually tell what it was due to the respirator's lens being abit foggy.

"A statue? Why would it back here?"

Once he got closer to it, he noticed it was of a dragon, mostly likely an eastern dragon of some sort, given the area they were in.

Still, something felt off. What that was, the man couldn't tell, but it made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

Like on ghost hunting show's that would come on television, though he doubted this place was haunted.

"I've never seen something like this before.."

He placed his hand onto the surface, yet reeled it away not a moment later out of reflex.

It felt warm to the touch.

_'No..that can't be possible.'_

He had to test it, even if he was scared out of his wits.

He placed it against it again, though it felt cold, almost like ice.

"What the..? H-how? Am i hallucinating?"

Before he could put that question into thoughts, he heard a loud cracking and then turned around to see the wall crack and shatter into pieces, as several workers holding tools, both powered and not, and ran over to them.

After making sure he was ok, the man showed the crew and jackie what he discovered, they got to work to safely remove it and then after getting clearance, and paying the workers, had it put onto a plane and had it on its way back to the United States.

Something still ate at Alex though, in the back of his mind, almost like an itch he couldn't scratch. He wanted to ignore it, but found he couldn't.

"So, whats the plan, professor?"

"I'll have it dropped by my Uncle's Antique shop, at least until we can find a museum that will take it."

"But for now, lets get some sleep, we do have a long flight ahead of us."

He couldn't argue with sleep, since he felt absolutely exhausted, having not gotten much sleep lately.

"Yea..i was just hallucinating from lack of sleep, that's all that was.."

He said that quietly enough that no one else heard it as he closed his eyes and fell into slumber.

_In the hold of the plane, amongst the boxes and other cargo too large to be with the passengers, the statue's eye's glowed red for a few moments before turning back to normal._


	2. Chapter 2

(_Before we begin, i have to give a thank u to my friend, who without their help this story wouldn't be possible!_)

•_Uncle's Antique Shop_•

"Here we are."

"Woah."

The shop wasn't much to look at, having a sort of asian inspired architecture to it that made it stand out amongst other shops around it.

They both got their suitcases out of the trunk of the taxi and headed inside, where the smell of dust, old parchment and ink filled the air, but to both of them, it felt like home, even more so for Jackie.

"Uncle, we're back!"

An old man wearing a yellowish vest over a long sleeve dress shirt with blue jeans and sandals stepped out from the back, adjusting the glasses on his face before opening his arms seemingly for a hug.

But when Jackie went to do so, he got finger's flicked to his head.

"Ow!"

"What took you so long? Uncle cannot run shop by himself like he used to!"

"Im sorry uncle, we got held up by-"

At that moment, a large truck pulled up outside of the shop, drawing their attention.

"That."

"Damn, that was fast. Not even UPS is that fast."

They headed outside and after signing off on it, had the statue removed and taken inside the shop, being set up on a wall off to the side but still visible.

Uncle takes a look at the statue and felt an odd feeling go through him, which made him shake for a moment.

"Are you ok?"

"Yes, Uncle is just a little cold.

Without saying another word he headee back into the back of the shop.

"Is he always like that?"

"Not always, you'll get used to being around him after a while."

"I hope so."

Jackie headed upstairs with his suitcase, but before Alex followed him, he looked back at the statue and for a moment, he swore its eye's glowed a blood red.

The day went by quicker than expected, as soon enough everyone was fast asleep.

Well, not everyone was.

Alex tossed and turned in his bed, unable to sleep, even as the clock sitting on the nightstand next to the bed read 2:00am.

"Why can't i sleep..?"

It was kind of a dumb question. He knew exactly why he couldn't sleep, but the man couldn't bring himself to admit that was the exact reason.

He couldn't get that statue out of his head.

"You know what? Fuck it."

He got up out of bed, wearing nothing but pajama pants decorated with cartoon dragons, some were shown flying, others breathing fire, and the rest were curled up sleeping, little z's shown near their heads.

He walked downstairs, the main room of the shop being illuminated by the light from the full moon outside shining through the large window's nearby.

He stood in front of it, looking abit up at it, before taking a deep breath to calm himself.

"Its just a statue Alex, it won't and can't hurt you."

"Maybe not in the state i'm in now, mortal, but if i was back to my powerful self, well lets just say you'd be in trouble."

His blood ran cold as he opened his eyes and took a few steps back.

"D-did you just talk?"

"Oh please tell me you aren't this dimwitted."

"I'm not stupid."

"I have yet to be proven otherwise."

The man huffed as he swore the statue hissed like a snake, though given the statue was a dragon that wouldn't be too far off.

"I saved you from that place, didn't i?"

The statue chuckled in response.

"And you expect me to be grateful?"

"This shop is better than rotting back there, isn't it?"

The statue's eyes flared and he could swear that if it could, it'd probably have breathed fire just then.

"..why do you have dragons on your pants, mortal?"

"Huh? Oh! Well, because i like them, ever since i was little, i just think their cool."

"We do not look like that."

"Well, could you show me what you look like?"

"You can already see me, mortal."

"No, i mean, what you looked like before..this.."

He said that last part as he did a circle with his hand.

"And why would you assume im not just a statue brought to life?"

"Do you really think i'm that much of an idiot?"

"But do you want me answering that question, mortal?"

"I suppose no-stop calling me mortal!"

He didn't yell that, but he did say it loud enough so that only the two of them could hear it.

"If you expect me to call you anything else, well, you should know the answer to that."

The man yawned, before he realized what time it was and started to head back upstairs to try to sleep.

But no, this conversation was not over, not by a longshot.

Morning came quicker than expected, and yet Alex had actually managed to sleep in, that is until he heard a knock at his bedroom door.

"Ugh..give me a sec.."

He got up, heading over to the door and opened it, seeing Jackie standing there.

"Oh, good morning, professor."

"I've got breakfast ready, so come on down and eat."

"Alright, i'll be down in a minute."

Jackie headed downstairs and after shutting the door, Alex got changed into a pair of jeans, and a grey shirt, slipping on his tennis shoes on the way out.

Once he arrived downstairs, he saw Uncle placing items in shelves, likely some antiques he had recently aquired.

He stopped once he saw jackie holding out his hand, in which was a sausage breakfast sandwich, easily recognizable from the brand emblazoned on the wrapping around it.

It may have not been the most healthy option, but it was better than going hungry.

The younger man took it and unwrapped it abit before taking a bite of it.

"Mmm..i've miss mcdonalds.."

He swallowed bite of food and took another one, following the pattern until he crumpled up the wrapping and threw it in the trash.

Apparently jackie had been on the phone, as he hung up after he threw the wrapping away.

"I just got a call from Buvaria, they have found King Ludwig's castle and want me to lead an expedition to explore it."

"Thats awesome! So what should i pack?"

"I'm afraid this is just for me, Alex."

Alex became abit downtrodden, kicking at the ground with his shoe.

"Aww.."

"Its alright, i won't be gone but a few days, but i need you to help Uncle with the shop while i'm gone, can you do that for me?"

Alex nodded, a soft smile forming on his face.

He hoped there wouldn't be much to do, but he'd help regardless. Besides, maybe he could learn more about that statue.

"Alright, i've got to get packing."

Jackie headed upstairs, the door to his room opening and then closing shut.

He noticed Uncle had left, likely to go to the back of the store, leaving him alone.

He took a deep breath and turned towards the statue, seeing it was still hanging in the same spot, but that honestly didn't surprise the man one bit.

He did want to talk to it, but due to it being morning and everyone was awake, that wouldn't be the best idea.

_Oh well, he'd just have to wait till tonight._


	3. Chapter 3

•_Antique Shop_•

The shop wasn't too busy, people did trickle in and look at some of the things he had for sale, and it was honestly kind of funny to watch them try to haggle with Uncle.

Alex just really stayed out of the way dusting, sweeping or even rearranging the items, which was alot more difficult than one would think.

Especially since you have to be very gentle with some of the antiques.

Like right now for example, as Uncle asked Alex to bring out a vase from the store room, which he thought would be easy, i mean its just a vase, right?

Boy was he wrong.

"Aya! Be careful, that is a priceless vase from the Qin Dynasty!"

He set the surprisingly heavy vase down on a small table, letting out a huff of exhaustion as he popped his back, which let out a loud 'pop' sound.

"Ugh..i think i threw out my back.."

"You've done a good job today, i'm impressed."

The younger man smiled abit, rubbing the back of his head.

"Thanks Uncle."

Uncle yawned, stretching his arms out, during which they popped and cracked.

"Aya..i am going to go count sheep.."

"Ok, i'll lock up for the night, go get some rest."

Uncle headed upstairs, the sound of a door opening and then closing following a few moments after.

Alex locked the front door of the shop, turning the "we're open" sign to "Sorry, we're closed", and hit the light switch, turning off the lights.

"I'm impressed, mortal."

"And here i thought you went mute."

"I can't exactly be myself when so many of you humans come and go, can i?"

"Fair point, i suppose."

"So, how was doing work for that old dottering fool?"

"He's not a dottering fool, he's..odd, sure, but definitely not dottering or a fool."

"Could've fooled me."

"Besides, i'm sure you've done manual labor plenty of times before you became like this."

The statue's eyes flared up again, and the man assumed it was in anger.

"You watch your tongue!"

it made him flinch hearing the venom in its voice from that, apparently that was an insult.

'_I guess i hit a nerve there.._'

"You are lucky i'm trapped in this form or else i would destroy you."

The man's eyes widened at a sudden, if unintended, realization.

"So, you weren't always like this?"

The statue went quiet, as if it bit its tongue, if it even had one.

"No..i wasn't."

It was a start, at least.

"Then, what are you?"

The man began to walk away, putting a hand on the staircases banister, giving a turned head glance back towards the statue.

"Something you can't even begin to comprehend."

Alex felt a chill go down his spine as his eye's widened, making him go quickly upstairs and into his room, shutting the door behind him.

He took a breath to calm himself, before he took off his clothes, setting them in a nearby hamper, before getting into bed, setting his glasses on the nightstand next to the bed.

He couldn't keep this hidden forever, and he knew this. Uncle or Jackie were bound to find out eventually, and then what would happen?

He didn't know, but it scared the hell out of him nonetheless

The man would need to think of something, but that could wait till tomorrow.

Once again it came rather quickly, Alex himself was a somewhat heavy sleeper most of the time, but he could never say he wasn't well rested.

Surprisingly, or rather not so surprisingly was that Uncle was awake before he was, and was reading from some kind of book, but the younger male was unable to tell what exactly it was about.

"Ah, good morning, Alex."

"Morning to you too, Uncle."

Alex began to dust and clean the artifacts out on display, using a dust rag or in the case of delicate objects, a feather duster.

While he was cleaning, he did notice Uncle glancing up from his book every once in a while, but was unsure of what exactly he was glancing at.

Regardless, he continued cleaning, if it had an inside, as in a vase or a box, he made sure to clean that too.

After a while, he noticed Uncle had left the room, and had took the book he was reading with him.

But that left the front desk open, so he decided to overlook it till he got back.

The bell that signaled the door rung, and the man looked up to see who it was, but saw no one, until he looked down in front of the desk and saw a young girl with a few large suitcases, pink in color.

The one thing that he could tell over everything else was the fact that she seemingly did not want to be here.

"Um..hello..?"

The girl didn't respond, but looked up at him, so at least she heard him.

He'd have to get Uncle on this one.

"Uncle? I need you out here!"

After a few moments, and some loud shuffling, the older man stepped out.

"Aya, what is it? Uncle is trying to do research!"

"There's a little girl here, i don't know-"

Uncle walked up to behind the desk, peeking over it to see her.

"Ah, good, she made it."

The younger male raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"You know her?"

"She's Jackie's niece, she'll be staying with us for a while."

"Does he know?"

"No. I'll tell him once he gets back, but can you help get her suitcases upstairs?"

Alex nodded and got them upstairs, and was about to head back downstairs, before a question made him stop.

"How do you know my uncle?"

The man turned back around and saw her standing in the hallway, her looking up at him, so he got onto one knee, that way he was near her height.

"I'm his assistant, i help him with whatever he needs me to."

Though, technically he worked for the university, as did Jackie, the assistant part came with the job.

"Ok, but how did you first meet him?"

"Oh, well i was a former student of his from the university."

Before he graduated, he went to his professor's to say his goodbyes, as most students did, and Jackie had told him that if he came back into town one day and needed help finding work, to give him a call.

A few years had passed, none of which he wanted to even think about, but here he was now.

"But enough about me, what-?"

"Alex, i need you down here immediately!"

"Oh, guess we'll have to continue later, but if you need me just let me know."

He headed downstairs, getting back to work, and Uncle headed back to do research on..well, whatever it was, the girl decided to head downstairs as well, taking a look around the shop, Alex having to steer her away from some of the more delicate artifacts.

'_This is..interesting. Maybe i can take advantage of this.._'

_The statue's eyes glowed lightly as it watched over the shop, a plan formulating in whatever kind of mind it possessed.._


	4. Chapter 4

•_Antique Shop_•

"Back for more questions and answers?"

"More like a lack of answers."

The man leaned back against the desk, not taking his eyes away from the statue in front of him.

"I don't have to tell you anything."

"Never said you did, nor would i make you."

"So you just expect me to tell you about me?"

he had nothing to say to that, but at this point he didn't, as the last conversations with it went nowhere.

"And your wearing those ridiculous pants again, i see."

"They don't seem _that_ ridiculous."

"What makes you say that?"

"You noticed them."

The statue's eyes flared lightly for a few moments before returning to normal.

But the man could swear he heard the statue grumbling.

"Anyhow. I heard your conversation with the child earlier."

"And?"

"Nothing."

"You seem interested by it."

"I'm not. What goes on between you mortals is beneath my interests."

"Your sure about that, why else would ask about it?"

"Yes i'm sure. Why would you even ask such a moronic question?"

"Well, you don't seem to mind asking me questions."

"It just amuses me."

"Me asking questions amuses you?"

"Yes, very much so. Mostly because you think i'll tell you what you want to hear."

There had to be something it wanted, it wouldn't had revealed itself to him if it didn't, the only problem was Alex had no idea what that was.

He yawned quietly, looking over the statue, and his eyes settled on what looked like slots that something or somethings fit into.

He had took note of them when he first found the statue back in china, but he didn't think they meant anything, and were just decorative.

'_That must be it. Whatever fit into those slots is what he's after._'

"Those slots."

"What about them, mortal?"

"What fits into them?"

The statue went silent, as if it was thinking of what to say next.

"Do you always ask so many questions?"

Yep. He should've seen that coming.

"What can i say, i'm a curious person."

The man yawned, stretching his arms out as they popped and cracked, rather loudly, but not enough to wake anyone upstairs.

"Ugh, what is that awful sound?"

"Huh? Oh, its my joints popping."

"Did you dislocate them or something?"

"No, its just bubbles of air between the joints that pop, no big deal."

"Besides, i thought what mortal's did was beneath your interests?"

Once again, he swore he heard the statue grumbling.

Checking the clock on the wall, he noticed it was about 3am, and since Jackie was currently on a plane from bavaria to here, he'd rather not wake up late, so he started to head over to the stairs, the wooden floor gently creaking beneath his bare feet.

"Giving up are we?"

Alex turned his head back towards it, flashing abit of a tired smile.

"Not by a long shot."

'_He's stubborn, i'll give him that._'

He headed upstairs and went to bed, trying to formulate a plan for how exactly he was gonna tell them.

The thought alone was enough to scare the hell out of him, but he had to do it.

The sun soon rose, and everyone got up and ready for the day.

Jackie's niece was playing on her handheld game system, Alex was sweeping the floor, a dustpan nearby so he could sweep it up into it and Uncle was in the back room as he usually was, but had no idea what he was doing.

"Alex, can i talk to you in private?"

"Oh um, sure Uncle."

They both headed into the backroom, amongst the stacks of books and papers, most of which the younger male couldn't read.

He had a minors from the university in language, but it has been a while since he's had to use it.

Jackie was usually the one who did the translating, but thats not to say he didn't learn anything.

"What do you need to talk about Uncle?"

The older man shuffled through the books on a small desk, picking up one that was a darkish red and bound in leather, with traditional chinese text on the cover.

"A book? I don't see whats-"

Before Alex could finish, Uncle flicked him in the forehead.

"Ow!"

"The book not important! Whats inside is important!"

The man rubbed his head for a moment before Uncle opened the book to a certain page, and showed it to him.

"Um..i can't read that."

This earned him another finger flick to the head.

"Ow! Again, really?!"

"You did not let Uncle explain!"

"Sorry."

"I have learned that nine hundred years ago, an ancient demon ruled over a kindgom in china, but his subjects rebelled against him."

"Is that al-?"

The younger man felt another finger flick to his forehead.

"Do not interrupt!"

"Ok, i'm startin to think you like doin that."

"Using good chi magic, they removed his own magic, sealing them away into talismans, doing so rendered the demon into an immobile state, and the talismans were scattered to the winds."

"So, what your thinking is the statue in the shop is that demon?"

"Exactly! Which is why we cannot let it out of our sights."

"But jackie wants to donate it, how can we convince him otherwise?"

"You leave that to Uncle, he knows what to do."

Alex nodded, leaving the room, but before he turned his head back towards Uncle.

"Be careful, Alex, demons can be very tricky."

"I will, Uncle."

He sat down at the front desk, glancing over at the statue, but it didn't do anything.

The man knew that it was watching him, however, that he had no doubt of.

He was brought out of his thoughts by the front door to the shop opening, revealing Jackie had returned, looking not too worse for wear, his normal archeologist outfit was torn in a few places, mostly the jacket, and under his left arm was a large golden shield.

"Welcome back professor, how was bavaria?"

"It was interesting, where is Uncle?"

"He's in the back room."

Jackie walked past the front desk, setting the shield on it as he did so, disappearing into the back of the shop.

Alex got up and looked over the shield, seeing small inscriptions around the center, but they were too small to read.

His eye's were drawn away from them by what was in the center, which looked like a talisman, but nothing like the man had seen before, as those were made of paper and ink, and this looked like it was made of stone.

The oddest thing about it was that it had a rooster on it, done in what he assumed was red paint.

"Hmm."

He grabbed a pencil and managed to get the tip of it into the crevice between the talisman and the shield, using it as a lever to get it out.

"Ah hah!"

He caught it in the air, and now he was certain it was made of stone, as it was heavy in his hand, yet it felt smooth, not rough as he expected.

'_If this is what i think it is, then looks like i've got a bargaining chip._'


	5. Chapter 5

•_Antique Shop_•

The front door to the shop opened and three guys stepped in, one was a pale man with red hair, wearing a white disco esque suit and a pink undershirt, the second was a japanese man wearing a blueish shirt with a black leather jacket, black pants and a pair of bright and oversized orange glasses.

The third man looked like one of those odd bouncers you'd see outside a club, but had an odd complexion with a bandage over his nose, darkish blue hair and was wearing a black suit and pants with a white t-shirt.

"Is the owner of the shop here today?"

Alex stepped up to the front desk, thankfully having snuck the stone talisman into his jeans pocket before he got up.

"He's in the back, what are you looking for exactly?"

The men glanced around the shop, not giving many artifacts in display a second thought, until they rested on the dragon statue, and their eyes lit up.

"How about that?"

Alex looked over to the statue, remembering what Uncle told him.

'_We must not let it out of our sights_.'

"Sorry, thats not for sale, but we do have this, we just got it in today."

He grabbed the shield Jackie had brought it, showing it to them, and they immediately took a liking to it, seeing it gleam in the lights of the shop.

"Our boss will like this, for sure!"

All three agreed with that sentiment, setting the shield down on the table.

"How much for it?"

"I don't know, let me get Uncle."

The man went back to the backroom, coming back with Uncle in tow.

"Ah, welcome to Uncle's Antiques, what may Uncle do for you today?"

"How much for this shield?"

The japanese man fixed his sunglasses, which also gleamed in the lights of the shop.

Alex wondered how anyone could wear something like that, he certainly couldnt.

"$1500."

The three men looked at each other, considering his offer before answering.

"Alright, here."

The bouncer like man of the group took out a wallet, which was made of a black leather material, and he got out the exact amount of money, giving it to uncle and they grabbed the shield, exiting the shop.

"Thank you for business!"

"They didn't even haggle.."

"Uncle supposes money is no object to them."

"They did mention having a boss, maybe their antique pickers?"

"Either way, Uncle has made a sale, so Uncle is happy."

"Hey, how about we go out for dinner? Be a good way to spend some of the money."

Uncle took a minute or so to consider, it wasn't a bad idea, all things considered.

"Uncle will go put rest of money in special place, got get Jackie and his niece, and make sure the back door is locked."

Alex nodded and did as he asked, and after everyone was outside, they made sure the shop was triple locked, they headed for dinner.

Thankfully, there was a dim sum resteraunt nearby, so they didn't have to travel halfway across the city to eat.

Steamer baskets filled with dumplings, meatballs of all kinds, plates of pork ribs, and even what looked like turnip cake was on their table.

"So, what are we going to do about our demon houseguest?"

"Well, it can't exactly hurt anyone the way it is now-"

Uncle did the finger flick to jackie's head, only with chopsticks.

"Ow!"

"Demons are tricky beings! You have to be very careful when dealing with them!"

"So, what do we do, then?"

"Uncle will do research to find a way to keep the demon under control."

"But won't you need help?"

Alex got a chopstick flick to the head as jackie did.

"Ow!"

"Of course Uncle will need help! Do you think he is a spring chicken?"

No one answered, afraid that was likely a trick question.

"That is what Uncle thought."

Everyone continued eating after that, polishing off a few plates of food, as well a couple teapots worth of tea.

Though uncle did complain abit that the tea was too hot when he first took a drink, and then too cold when he let it cool down for a minute or two.

Alex chuckled quietly at that, as it reminded him of his grandma.

By the time they had gotten back, it was going from mid afternoon to evening, and everyone was full and tired, minus jackie's niece who had fallen asleep on the way home and who's name the younger man learned was Jade.

"I'll take her upstairs and put her to bed."

Both of them nodded as jackie headed upstairs, and uncle headed back to the backroom, likely to do research.

Which left him alone with the demon, and luckily, unlike the last conversations, he had a bargaining chip of sorts.

"Your stubborn as a mule, mortal."

"So i've been told, isn't the first and certainly won't be the last time either."

"But why are you here now? Couldn't wait until tonight?"

"We know about you, there's no need to hide."

The demon went silent, almost deathly so, and alex thought he either scared him, which was highly unlikely, or he was trying to think of a response.

It was likely the latter.

"And yet, you aren't afraid of me."

"Because you can't exactly hurt anyone as you are now."

The only real way the demon could hurt someone is if an earthquake happened and it fell off the wall and someone was standing under it.

Which is why he was standing about a good foot or so away.

"Besides, i think you may want this-"

He dug through his pants pocket, pulling out the talisman and holding it between two fingers.

"Where..where did you find that?!"

"Just lucky i guess."

Well, that was partially true after all, but he was just thankful those thugs hadnt seen it.

"But what i'm really curious about is what it does."

Before he could realize what happened, the talisman flashed brightly, the image of the rooster being outlined before the actual flash happened.

He looked around confused, seeing nothing around him had changed.

"Nothing happ-?"

Thats when he looked down, noticing he wasn't standing on the ground anymore, but was in fact about 5 inches off the ground, but was still standing up straight.

"Woah! I'm floating!?"

"Interesting."

Without meaning to, when he turned to face the demon statue, he accidentally moved his head too much forward, which caused the equivilant to a handstand.

Only, you know, he was floating in mid air.

"Was that sarcastic, or?"

"What do you think?"

"You tell me."

Before their conversation could continue, Uncle came out from the back room.

"Aya! Alex is floating!"

Jackie came running down the stairs, and became just as bewildered as Uncle was upon seeing him.

"A-alex, how are you-?"

"I don't know but can someone flip me right side up, please?"

Jackie walked over and flipped him so he was back upright, but was still floating.

"Ok, much better."

"Now, give the talisman to me, mortal!"

Both Uncle and Jackie stepped back a good few steps, abit taken aback by its command, but the youngest man just crossed his arms.

"No. Because i have a proposal of sorts for you."

"Alex, you must be careful, demons are very tricky!"

The man looked back at him, giving a nod in understanding, before turning back to the demon.

"You wish to make a deal with me? You are either courageous or foolish, mortal."

"I assume there are more of these talismans, correct?"

Of course, he already knew there were, as the illustration in the book showed 12 in all, and he had one, so there was still 11.

He just had to haggle, so to speak.

"Why should i tell you?"

"Because i know they must mean alot to you, seeing as your reaction to me having found one was what it was."

"...yes, there are."

He could tell reluctance was dripping from its voice, and yet, there was a hint of venom amongst it.

"And i assume that you must want to find them correct? After all, they were taken from you."

The demon seemed taken by surprised by that last part of his sentence, as its eyes flared like a fire coming to life and burning brightly, almost blinding him.

"How do you know that?"

"Uncle did his research."

He had stepped forward to stand beside the younger man, asjusting his glasses as he did so.

"Now, since you can't really look for them given your current situation, how about we help you?"

Jackie was now the one to speak up, of course being very, very hesitant about what the man was saying.

"Are you sure this is such a good idea, uncle said that demons can be tricky and how do we know that it won't betray us?"

He did raise a good point, in all honesty, they couldn't be sure that it wouldn't try to betray them, even given its current state.

Uncle looked back at jackie, giving him a look that said '_uncle has a plan for that, just wait.'_

The demon let out a laugh that lasted for about a minute or so, before slowly quieting down, taking a few breaths, or at least thats what they thought it was doing.

"Why, pray tell, would you want to help me, and even more so, how can you be sure you can trust me?"

Well, they really couldn't, at least not yet.

"You've not given me a reason to not trust you."

Both uncle and jackie looked at alex, who surprisingly spoke up before they did.

"Im not saying i do trust you, cause i don't. You could have easily tricked me or you could trick me at any point in the near future."

"Your point mortal?"

"You have to show that i..we can trust you."

"And how do i do that?"

Trust had to be earned, plain and simple, it couldn't just be handed out, all over the place.

Besides that, there was an unlistable amount of ways to earn someone's trust, and just as many, if not more, to break it, so they couldn't really tell him, hell they wouldn't anyway, he'd have to figure it out on its own.

"You've got to figure that out on your own."

The demon went silent, not saying another word.

"Anyway how do i-?"

As if responding to his thoughts, the talisman deactivated, causing him to land on his feet, no worse for wear.

"Oh, thats how."

"So, what do we do with the talisman?"

Uncle took it out of Alex's hand, once again adjusting his glasses.

"Uncle will keep it in his study for now, and will do research to try to find a way to search for the other 11 talismans."

"Its getting late, we should go to bed."

"Go on ahead, Uncle will be up in a minute."

Both Alex and Jackie headed upstairs, but stopped in front of the bedroom doors.

"Im proud of you, by the way."

"Thanks, but we'll have to show that it can trust us as well, you realize that don't you?"

Jackie nodded, yawning.

"Maybe we'll have our answer in the morning, and hopefully whatever Uncle has planned will work."

"We can only hope, professor."

They both headed to their rooms, shutting the doors as they got into what they usually slept in, before going to sleep.

Meanwhile, Uncle was sitting in his study, looking through books, the talisman sitting under a nearby lit desk lamp, as he kept turning through pages, stopping at one that caught his interest.

"Its name..is Shendu.."

_Outside, the statue's eye's flared brightly, as if it heard the older man say its name.._


	6. Chapter 6

_•Downtown San Fransisco•_

The three men entered into a tall skyscraper like building, walking past the front desk and into an elevator, pushing the button for the top floor, the doors closing as it began its long climb.

The shield was being held carefully, if it got damaged, their boss wouldn't be happy, especially if it was damaged and he learned how much they spent on it.

"Can't believe that old man didn't even haggle on this thing."

"But hey, at least Valmont will be happy."

"And thats worth the cash, any day."

The elevator stopped, showing it had gotten them to their destination, and the doors slid open to reveal a rather large office like room, a set of large clear glass windows on the left side wall, allowing light in and giving whoever was in the room an impressive view of the city.

"We're back boss!"

An olive skinned man with whitish blond hair wearing a green suit sat at a ornate wooden desk at the back of the room, stood up as the men approached the desk, setting the shield upon it.

"Where did you three find this?"

"At some antique shop in chinatown, but the old man running the shop didn't even haggle for it, funnily enough."

"Is this all that you bought or..?"

"Yea, well, there was this statue they had but the old man said it wasn't for sale so-"

"Describe it to me."

"Well, it was like a dragon, kind of-?"

"It was like one of those eastern dragons, except it was curled up like a snake!"

"..was the statue on a shelf or..?"

"No boss, it was hanging on a wall."

The man raised an eyebrow in absolute confusion.

"Are you absolutely sure?"

"We're sure, boss."

The man went into thought, fiddling with the cane in his hand as he did so, and the three men stood and waited, not wanting to derail his train of thought.

When he finally got an idea, he stopped moving and turned to face his employees.

"I want you to go back to the shop you found the shield in and try to find out as much information on that statue you saw as possible, do i make myself clear?"

"Of course, boss."

"Yes sir."

"Clear as crystal."

"Good, as for the shield, hang it up next to the vase from the ming dynasty."

The shield was hung up as their boss requested, the man sitting down at his desk and he picked up a nearby telephone.

"What are you doing, boss?"

"I have to make some calls. Just..do as i told you."

The men then left, heading to the elevator, and used it to head back outside.

_•Antique Shop: The Next Morning•_

"Uncle? What are you doing up..wait, did you not sleep last night?"

"Uncle was doing research, very important."

"But all night? Geeze, i haven't had an all nighter since my freshman finals in college."

"Uncle may not be young anymore, but he can be very determined."

Alex yawned as he poured himself a cup of coffee, and walked over to the demonic statue on the wall.

"So.."

"I've given what you said some thought, mortal."

"Oh, really?"

"..yes, i have."

"And?"

"Well, as much as i hate to admit it, you are correct in the fact that..i will need help in retrieving the rest of my talismans, seeing as how i'm..like this."

"Thats good."

".."

"What?"

"Aren't you all going to help me?"

"Well, i mean we will, when you ask."

At that moment, Jackie walked up to him.

"So, whats his answer..?"

"Shh."

The statue growled, its eyes flaring up as it did so, before it spoke.

"Will..will you all help me get the rest of the talismans?"

"See, was that so hard? And yes, we will, right Jackie?"

"As long as he doesn't give us a reason otherwise, then yes."

"Oh, before i forget-"

Alex took out the rooster talisman and put it into the first slot, where it glowed a reddish orange glow for a few moments before fading away.

The demon let out a sort of groan, like it was stretching its arms out after sitting in a chair too long.

"You aren't going to say thank you?"

The demon didn't answer, but Uncle then came out of his study, holding a leatherbound book in his hands.

"Uncle has good news."

"What is it, Uncle?"

"Uncle has discovered that the demon's name is Shendu."

"..that's it? Did you find any information on the other talismans?"

"Uncle is still looking, but he will let you know when he finds something."

The man took another drink of his coffee, setting the cup on a small table next to him.

"Even if we could find a way to find them, how would we get to where they are?"

"We'll think of something, we just have to do this one step at a time."

Alex gave a nod as he yawned, grabbing his coffee off the table, taking another drink from it.

"What are you drinking, mortal?"

The man turned towards Shendu, swallowing his drink of coffee before answering.

"It's coffee."

"What is coffee?"

Alex stopped for a moment, but then realized that Shendu likely didn't have it back before he became a statue.

"Its like tea, only..more caffeinated."

"And i'm guessing you mortal's drink it to keep awake?"

it made sense, he had seen them drink it after all.

"Yes, mostly. Maybe when we get you back to how you were, you could try some."

He switched on the nearby radio, which was on one of those music stations that one would listen to on their way to work, or if one were stuck in heavy traffic.

It wasn't bad, but it was really the only kind of music they could listen to that uncle didn't complain about.

"Then why don't you drink tea?"

"Just not a tea person."

"Hmm."

The man sat down in the chair behind the front desk, prepared for any potential customer's that might come in.

It was honestly a waiting game, and usually a few would come in now and again, but most of the time the shop was quiet, which was nice.

However, the man fell asleep without even realizing it, well, he did once he felt uncle finger flicking him in the head, which made him wake up.

"Ah! I'm awake!"

"Why are you sleeping? Uncle needs you in case customer's come in and want to buy Uncle's wares!"

"Sorry uncle, guess i was more tired than i thought..given what's happened over the past few days.."

"Well, if you have trouble to stay awake, then Uncle will make some tea."

He heard Uncle walk away, his footsteps disappearing into the backroom of the shop.

The man laid back in the chair, letting out a yawn.

'Jackie did say to take this one step at a time, after all.'

"Yet, i have a feeling that this isn't going to be easy, no matter what we do, even with Shendu's assistance.'

"Maybe i could talk to him.."

Alex glanced over at shendu, but noticed he looked like he was..sleeping?

Was..that even possible?

He'd have to ask him later.

However, the front door bell dinged, and the man turned to see who had entered, and noticed it was the three guys who bought the shield the other day.

'Their back? Well, suppose i can't blame them.'

Uncle came out from the back room, greeting them in his usual way.

"Mind if we look around? Our buyer wants to see what else you have to sell."

"Not at all, but if you break it, you buy it!"

The three men split up, going to different parts of the store, looking over the artifacts that were on display.

Alex still kept an eye on them, glancing at each of them when he could, even laying back in the chair so he could see them when they were behind him.

They didn't seem to notice, either.

"Hey, old man, could you tell us about this?"

Uncle came out from the backroom, seeing the japanese man holding a light greenish jade statue in his hands, seemingly being careful with it for..well, as uncle told them "you break it, you buy it."

"Ah, yes, that is a very interesting piece."

Uncle walked over to the man and began to explain the piece to him.

"Alex, do you mind coming to help me up here?"

The young man looked up to see Jackie holding a laundry basket in his arms, which looked to be about half full of dirty clothes.

"Sure, be up there in sec!"

He got up and made his way past them, walking upstairs to help Jackie, going into his room and bringing out his own dirty clothes, setting them into the basket.

However, unknown to any of them, the bouncer looking man had snuck past and into the backroom, coming back out after a minute or two and made it look like he was looking at what was nearby.

"So, how much do you want for it?"

"Let uncle think..how does 2000 dollars sound?"

"Sounds good to me."

They paid for the statue, then left, Uncle heading back into the backroom of the shop.

_•Down the street•_

"Can't believe we managed to do that."

"Yea, we must of gotten lucky."

"Thankfully i managed to get a photo of that statue while you were talking to that old geezer, Chow."

"And i took pictures of an old book while you were negotiating."

They continued walking, not breaking their pace as they weaved through the people walking the other direction.

"Why didn't you just steal the book, Ratso?"

"They would've noticed it was gone."

"He has a point there, finn."

"Anyway, at least Valmont will be happy."

As if on cue, a limosiune pulled up to beside them, the side window rolling down the reveal Valmont sitting inside.

"Get in you three, we have a meeting to get to."

The three men got in, sitting on opposite sides from valmont, shutting the doors behind them as the limosuine drove off.

"So, what did you find?"

"We have this statue-"

Chow set the statue on the small table in the center of the seats, but Valmont did not look impressed.

"Did you find anything on that statue you mentioned?"

"I got a picture of it, boss, and Ratso took pictures of a book they had-"

"Believe us, you'll like em!"

Valmont fiddled with his cane abit, looking at the three of them.

"..good job, but i'll have to look over them later, as i said, we have a meeting to get to, and we can't be late."

"Who's this meeting with, boss?"

"Oh, just an old friend of mine."

_Chow, Finn and Ratso had a gut feeling that whoever this old friend of Valmont's was..they were not one to be messed with.._


	7. Chapter 7

•_Antique Shop_•

"Ah, back for another one on one chat, i see."

Alex sat on the desk, facing Shendu, arms crossed.

"Do you have a way to find the talismans?"

"How can you be sure i do, mortal?"

'_Not this again. Though, why am i suprised?_'

"They were made from your magic, Shendu, its not hard to connect the dots."

"Smart. For a mortal, anyhow."

"I'm smarter than you think."

"Never said you weren't, but compared to myself, however.."

"Yea, i get it."

The man got up, stretching his arms and legs, before sitting back down.

"If you want us to help you, your going to have to help us."

"Hmm."

"You can't deny i'm right."

The statue went silent, but it didn't bother alex much.

He understood Shendu wasn't exactly the most..conversational creature.

The man was brought out of his thoughts by a flash of light and once it dissipated, a strange object was floated over to him, and he barely managed to catch it.

"There."

It felt, not very heavy but not very light either, and it seemed to be made of stone, in fact..it felt exactly like-

"What is this?"

"You said you wanted my help, well, you have it."

"You do realize that-"

"Yes. I do."

He could tell by the tone that he was probably angry about earlier, not that he would blame him.

"Well..thanks."

"Don't mention it."

The man started to walk away, but stopped when Shendu continued.

"No, i mean it, Don't. Mention. It."

He gulped, nodding, telling by his tone that was being serious..very serious.

'F-for a statue, he can be scary sometimes..'

The man set the odd object on his bedside table, getting changed and then laying down in bed, yet he couldn't sleep.

He say up, turning on the lamp and reached over and picked up the object Shendu gave him.

After putting on his glasses, he grabbed the object the demon gave him, taking notice it had four dragon heads on it, set in what seemed like the positions on a compass.

Maybe thats what it was, a compass of sorts, and rather ancient one at that.

And if it really could track the talisman's, then maybe..

The man shook his head. It'd have to wait till in the morning.

He once again woke up early, looking at the clock beside his bed and saw the time was 6:30am.

He sat up, stretching his arms and turning on the lamp sitting on the bedside table, allowing him to see better.

Well, he couldn't see that well without his glasses, but still.

He glanced at the item on the desk, an odd feeling overtaking him, but he couldn't place what it was.

He shook his head, getting up out of bed and getting dressed for the day, a simple t-shirt and a pair of shorts, making sure to grab it again before heading downstairs.

'Doesn't seem like anyone else is awake.'

Well, there was Shendu, but he wasn't exactly certain if he could sleep in his current form.

He quietly walked to into the backroom, the wood floor creaking as he did so, which made the man stop in his tracks.

'_Let's just..step carefully_.'

The man sat down at the desk, setting the compass like object down before opening the book that was laying under the desk light, its pages old and yellowed with age, the words upon the pages were faded but still somewhat legible.

He knew he had to be careful, not wanting to damage the book, as it was likely very rare and irreplacable.

"There has to be something, i just have to look carefully."

That, and he really didn't want to piss off Uncle.

And hey, with how quiet he was, he could concetrate-

"Alex, why are you up so early?"

The man turned around, seeing Uncle standing in the doorway, a cup of hot coffee in his hand.

"Oh, morning Uncle, i was just looking for information.."

"Maybe Uncle can help, what is it exactly?"

Alex picked up the item, handing it to Uncle, who handed him off the cup of coffee so he could inspect it more thoroughly.

"Hmm..where did you get this?"

The younger man froze. He remembered what Shendu had told him last night, and he really, really didn't want to find out what he was like when he was angry.

That and the fact he wasn't certain if the demon dragon actually slept, due to state he was currently in.

He did a sort of motion signaling to shut the door, which, thankfully Uncle caught onto after a few moments.

"Shendu gave it to me."

"Did you not remember what i said before?!"

"Yes i remembered, but he just gave it to me, out of the blue without sayin a word."

"He did?"

"Yea, i haven't figured out how this thing works either.."

Uncle walked over to one of the stacks of books, looking through it, till he pulled out one of them, blowing the dust off of the cover before walking back over.

He set the book on the table, and the younger man looked at what was on the cover, written in what seemed like traditional chinese.

"Yea, i still can't read it."

"It is a tome of mystical objects."

"And you think what Shendu gave me is in this book?"

"Its a possibility."

"And what if it isn't? Are we gonna look through all these books till we do?"

"If that is what we must do, then yes."

The man sighed quietly but knew it was likely their best bet to find what they were looking for.

"Then lets get started, we've got alot of books to search through, but it'd be easier if Jackie was awake."

Alex yawned and opened the book, eye's scanning the pages as he went through them.

Though, speaking of Jackie, where was he? He was usually awake after Alex himself was, but maybe the University called him in for urgent business.

But if that was the case, why didn't he leave a note or even call him to let him know?

Something definitely felt wrong here.

•_The day before_•

"Boss, how long will it be till this old friend o' your's shows up?"

"It won't be long, he tends to be fashionably late..or unfashionably in most cases."

Though as if to answer his question, a sort of limosuine pulled up outside.

After a moment, a man stepped out from the back, walking around to the side of the car and opening the door, a man in a business suit stepping out and walking towards them.

"Ah, hello Valmont, long time no see."

"And a good hello to you as well, Yuzuki."

"But let us skip the pleasentries and get down to business, shall we? You certainly wouldn't have called just to catch up."

"Fair, fair. I do have a favor to ask of you."

"A favor? You do remember that you still owe me after i got you out of that mess you got into in Manchester?"

"I do, quite well, but, if you help me, i can promise you will be paid what you are owed, plus interest, my friend."

The man raised an eyebrow in interest, whatever Valmont had found or was trying to find had to be worth alot, or else he would have no reason to call him.

And yet, the man had a feeling this wasn't going to be anything he was used to.

"Ratso, Finn, show him what you found."

They handed over the photos they took, though they were still on their phones, and Yuzuki looked over them, a look of intrigue clear on his face.

Though, after a minute or so, it was replaced by a look of confusion.

"Im assuming here, and i know it makes me look like a jackass, that your in need of a translator for these?"

"You would be correct."

"And what am i to receive from doing so?"

"Anything that is uncovered shall be split between us, 50/50"

Yuzuki intertwined his hands together, thinking about the proposition presented to him, though he did wish he had some whiskey in his hand right now.

"Alright Valmont, but you had better keep your half of the proposition, this time."

Valmont smiled, his fingers gripping the top of the cane he held in his left hand.

"I'm glad we could come to an agreement."

"I will get a colleague to look these writings over and have the translations back to you as soon as possible."

"Good, just keep me updated."

"And the same to you, Valmont."

The four of them walked back to their limousine, the chauffer opening the door and letting them all in before shutting the door, entering the drivers seat and then driving off.

•_Antique Shop_•

"We've been at this for hours, Uncle, can't we take a break?"

Uncle was pacing as he read, not taking his eyes off the pages, but as he passed by the younger man he managed finger flick the back of his head.

"Ow! Will you stop that?!"

"If we take a break, then the talisman's may fall into the wrong hands!"

"You say that as if they likely haven't already."

And then another finger flick.

"Ow!"

However, before they could continue, the bell that indicated the front door of the shop had been opened dinged, and they both exited the room to see who had entered.

"Ah, Jackie!"

"Hey professor!"

The man smiled seeing both of them, though it was a little obvious that he was tired, like he had been up most of the night.

"Good morning-"

He couldn't finish his sentence, due to Uncle finger flicking him in the head.

"Where have you been?! You could have been helping Uncle and Alex do research!"

"Sorry Uncle, i just needed to go for a walk is all."

"Well, at least your not hurt."

"Anyway, what have you two been up to?"

"Research to help us find the talismans."

"And how is it going?"

The three went into the backroom, once again shutting the door so both Alex and Uncle could explain everything without their demon house guest eavesdropping.

"So, you've found a way to find the talismans?"

"Maybe. I'm not too sure what it can do since Shendu never told me exactly what it was he gave me."

"Well, how do we test it to see if it actually works and this isn't some kind of trick?"

"Hmm..well, if this thing can track the talismans, then why not try it on one we already have?"

Uncle and Jackie glanced at each other for a few moments before looking back at Alex.

"That is..actually a good idea."

"Uncle will prepare a counter spell just in case."

The man nodded, grabbing the artifact off the table and stepping out into the front of the store.

He glanced down at it, his eye's widening as he saw it was glowing, well, one of the dragon heads were anyway, but it was a yellowish color compared to Shendu's eye's which glowed a fiery red.

"What the-"

It was pointing to his left.

'So it is a sort of compass..i just have to follow it then.'

Of course, he already knew where the Rooster Talisman was, but this was a test after all.

Once he got to in front of shendu, he noticed the whole compass was glowing with an orangish glow.

"So you figured it out, i was beginning to think you and the old fool wouldn't."

"I was beginning to think you just gave it to me as a trick."

"Well, if i remember correctly you did say you all needed my help, and as much fun as that would be, i wouldn't trick you mortals with something so assanine."

"Thanks for the warning."

_He then headed back into the backroom, to tell them the good-ish news, but that still left the need for a way to get to them.._

(**Author's Note: **_sorry this chapter took so long i had some personal business going on that had all of my attention, but now i have the time i need to work on it again, but i do hope you have enjoyed this story so far cause we are far from done!)_


	8. Mask of the Ox (part 1)

•_On a private plane headed to Mexico•_

"Ok, so explain to me again how you managed to get us a private plane?"

"Cause i feel like you went for more than just a walk the other morning, Jackie."

"Oh well i-"

At that moment, an overhead compartment nearby was knocked open, and Jade tumbled out.

"Jade?! What are you doing here, you were told to stay at the shop with Uncle!"

"You guys are going to look for one of those magic talisman things, I'd never miss a chance to see what they can do! Besides, Uncle has that creepy demon to keep him company."

"Oh dear..I can only imagine what they're arguing about.."

•_Meanwhile..•_

"Make your move, Chan, it'll be the last one you make!"

Uncle's eye's squinted as he moved his hand towards Shendu, only to stop and put his fingers onto a white bishop, moving it diagonally two places, capturing Shendu's rook.

"Uncle does not think so."

He crossed his arms, waiting for Shendu to make his move.

The demon, using the Rooster Talisman, levitated his queen and took Uncle's bishop.

"Your move, Chan."

Uncle took in the state of the board before he lifted up his king, placing next to Shendu's queen.

"Uncle calls checkmate."

He had a smirkish smile on his face with his arms crossed.

Shendu's eye's flared, seemingly in either shock, anger or a combination of both, before returning to normal.

"Best two out of three."

"Fine, but Uncle must make tea first."

The older man got up from his seat, going into the backroom, which left the dragon demon alone.

'_I will not lose to that doddering old fool!'_

•Back on the plane•

"Anyway, it's too late to turn the plane back now, we're beginning to land at the airport."

Jackie sighed, realizing that Jade was with them for the long haul.

"Stay on the plane."

"Aww.."

The plane soon landed, and both jackie and Alex disembarked to begin their search for the first of many talisman's.

•Mexico City•

"What does the locator say?"

Alex looked down at it, seeing the dragon head that was pointed forward was glowing with a light yellow glow.

"It says it's in front of us, but it doesn't mean we're close."

"Just keep an eye on it, we can't let the talisman fall into the wrong hands."

'Unless it already has..'

Soon enough, the duo were in a large open square, crowds of people moving around them but seemingly paid them no mind.

"Which direction now-"

However, Jackie was interrupted by Alex's cell phone ringing.

"Oh, I'll be right back."

Jackie nodded, keeping Jade in his sight as the younger man went off to answer the phone call.

"Hey doc. Yea i'm doin fine.."

A woman was heard talking on the other end, files being shuffled and the sound of lab carts and nurses being heard in the background.

"..the results of my last blood tests came back this morning?"

The sounds of talking, hospital beds moving about as well as some kind of announcement on an intercom could be heard over what the woman said.

"..Fluctuated? Are you sure..?"

The man gulped, feeling his right hand shaking as he listened to what the woman was saying, as he tapped his foot against the ground.

"An appointment tomorrow? Well, it'll depend if I'm back by then..how about in a few days?"

"Alright, thanks doc."

He hung up the call, putting his phone back into his pocket and he walked back over to them, but before being stopped by a young boy in a green shirt and yellowish pants holding a stack of flyers.

"Oh, hello there."

"Here you go!" The boy said, handing him one of the flyers.

The man looked at the flyer, it being some kind of advertisement for a local luchador match involving someone called 'El Toro Fuerte'.

Though it took him a moment to realize something was off with it.

'_In his mask..could that be..?'_

Moving the flyer closer to his face, his suspicions were confirmed as he saw an octagonal grey object embedded into the forehead of the mask, though emblazoned on it was a blue ox.

'At least we know who has the talisman.'

But there remained the question of what the talisman's power was.

The man made his way back to Jackie, the flyer in hand.

"How did your call go?"

"It was fine, anyway, here."

Alex handed Jackie the flyer, who looked over it and saw the same thing he did.

"Looks like we now know where the talisman is."

The younger man nodded, the two of them heading to where the match was taking place.

•_Small Stadium•_

"I had no idea wrestling was so popular in mexico."

"Well, american wrestling did stem from luchador wrestling professor, much like immigration brought many cultures and their food, religions, etc to america to make it the boiling pot it is today."

Jackie had a surprised look on his face, which made Alex chuckle.

"Look! Its El Toro Fuerte!"

They heard someone in the crowd yell out, and the two of them turned their attention to the large wrestling ring, seeing a man in a black tank top, yellow leggings, black boots and a red mask with yellow designs on it.

"Look, in his mask."

Alex didn't point, one because it was rude and two, he didn't want to draw attention to themselves as they both looked up at the wrestler, seeing the same talisman from the poster in the forehead of his mask.

"That's the talisman alright, question is what power does this one hold?"

"We'll just have to wait and see."

Jackie nodded as Toro's opponent jumped into the ring using the bungee-esque ropes to help them, and it appeared that the other luchador was not just taller than El Toro, but larger in a weight perspective.

The bell rang not a moment later, signaling the start of the match as both luchadors rushed to the center, ready to take the other out.

Though it didn't last long as El Toro gripped the bigger luchador's sides and lifted him up with little to no effort, before slamming him into the floor of the ring onto his back.

He then climbed the ropes and body slammed onto them, pulling their leg back several times till the bigger luchador tapped out.

"El Toro just lifted him like he was a rag doll.."

"And yet there was no strain on his body, he doesn't even look winded."

El Toro's opponent left the ring, hobbling as the referee entered and grabbed the hanging microphone.

"El toro wins another match, making this his tenth consecutive victory!"

The crowd cheered loudly around them, as el toro took everything in.

"We need to get that talisman."

"And how do you plan to do that, jackie? get in the-?"

However, before alex could finish his question, Jackie climbed up into the ring.

"-Well, that answers my question."

"Did uncle Jackie just climb into the ring?"

"Yes jade he di-Jade?! I thought Jackie told you to stay on the plane?!"

"I got bored, besides I can help!"

"Jade this is not a game, we don't know what these talismans can do and anyone who has them or uses them can get very hurt."

At that moment, Jackie got thrown against the ropes, bouncing back and forth a few times before he ran into El Toro and fell onto his back.

"Besides, if anything happened to you, your parents would be very upset, and Jackie wouldn't be able to live with himself."

Jackie got up, before once again bouncing back and forth, except this time he got clotheslined by him.

"Not to interrupt you, Alex, but aren't you going to help jackie?"

The man glanced towards the ring before looking back at her.

"El toro isn't taking him seriously, he'll be fine, anyway-"

"Look, i don't want to fight you!"

"This isn't much of a fight, amigo."

"I just need your mask, so if you could kindly take it off-"

El Toro grabbed his arm and lifted him up into the air, so they were face to face.

"El Toro Fuerte never removes his mask."

He then effortlessly tossed Jackie from the ring, the man landing with a thud next to Alex and Jade.

"Well, that went well, huh?"

Jackie sat up, slowly getting up onto his feet, groaning as he did so.

"We'll have to think of another way to get that talisman-"

"Jade!? I thought i told you-"

"We've already had this conversation, Jackie."

"So, what will we do now?"

"Let's get out of here, get something to eat and try to get a strategy together."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

The three began to walk out of the arena, but as they did so, Alex glanced back towards the ring, seeing El Toro getting out of it and walking off, the cheers of the crowd around him.

_This wasn't over, not by a long shot.._


	9. Mask of the Ox (part 2)

•_Cantina•_

The three sat at one of few empty tables in the low lighted interior, the smell of food and alcohol permeating the air around them and the other patrons.

"What's that smell?"

"Something you're not gonna have till you're old enough."

They ordered their food, the waitress heading back into the kitchens, soon out of sight.

"So, what should we do?"

"I would say try to fight him so he'll take his mask off, but Jackie's already shown that plan's a bust."

"I wasn't really trying to fight him, Alex."

Alex simply shrugged in response, not having anything to say.

Soon after, their food arrived and they ate, talking in between bites of food so as not to be rude.

However, the man noticed that something was under his plate, so he pulled it out as discreetly as he could, and held it under the table as he glanced down to read it.

'_Meet me at the fountain plaza at 3am tonight, i can help you talk to El Toro, and come alone.'_

The handwriting was quick, messy but still legible, and yet there was no name anywhere on the paper to signify who wrote it, which made sense.

He turned his head to look around, trying to see if he could try to find whoever slipped the note to him, but it seemed as though they were long gone.

The man went into thought, losing himself in his own head as he let his mind go to work.

"Alex..? You alright?"

Alex snapped back to attention, his mind taking a few moments to catch up before he answered.

"Oh, yea..just thinking."

"About what?"

"It's nothing, Jackie."

The man didn't believe it, but didn't want to intrude on business that wasn't his. That didn't mean he couldnt worry about those he cared about, however.

'_It's a risk, but I gotta take it. I don't want either of them to get hurt.'_

He nodded his head, his fork clinking against the empty plate.

After a bit of time they finished eating, they paid for the food and headed back out, the sky having gone to a deepish orange as the sun was setting behind the mountains in the distance.

"So, what do we do now?"

"Let's find a place to stay for the night, we can try to think of something in the morning."

They all were in agreement on that, and thankfully they found an old hostel to hunker down in, both of then pooling what money they brought with them to pay for it.

Once the trio were in their rooms, it was quick that sleep overtook them, well, only two of them anyway.

Alex stood on the balcony outside of the room, the warm night air blowing past him, blowing his already messy hair, making it even more so.

He was leaning forward against the railing with his arms crossed, as he glanced as the watch on his wrist, the digital display reading 2:45am.

"I need to get going.."

The man stepped back inside, going over to the couch in the corner of the room as he began to slip what clothing he lacked on, and slipped his shoes on before heading over to the door, his hand gripping the door knob as he glanced back at the two of them sleeping.

'_I'll be back soon, i promise.'_

The only people out besides himself were drunken patrons from bars, but the man paid them no mind, as they weren't bothering him.

He continued to walk down the street, slipping his way past anyone that rather drunkenly got in his way, and he soon arrived back at the fountain plaza, sitting down on one of the benches.

He glanced at his watch, seeing the time was 2:56am.

"Now i gotta wait for whoever this is.."

Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long, as a man in his mid 40's wearing an odd jacket and pants with those fancy loafer type shoes walked up to and sat down next to him.

"You're the one that sent the note..?"

"Why yes, though i did wish i could've spoken to you earlier, but you were occupied and i did not wish to bother you."

That was understandable, he had to admit.

"Now, come along we do have a meeting to get to."

They both got up and began to walk, before the man led him down a nearby alleyway.

"Why are we going through here?"

"It's a shortcut, besides, I know this city like the back of my hand, so you won't have to worry about getting lost."

"Oh ok..i guess that makes-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he felt a needle being pushed into his neck, followed by a sort of quiet hiss and he fell onto the ground as his vision began to fade with the man standing over him.

"You..fucker.."

Before he passed out, he felt the man grip his shoulders and drag him along, the sound of his shoes scraping against the ground being the last thing he heard.

•_meanwhile..•_

Jackie woke up slowly, the sound of the fan blowing was first thing he heard as he sat up in bed, before he looked around the small room, smiling softly when he noticed Jade asleep on the other bed-

Wait. Where was Alex?

When their eyes rested on the couch, they noticed that the man wasn't there, and looked like he hadn't been for awhile now.

He got up out of bed, and walked over to the couch as he began to look through Alex's things, checking pockets until he pulled out a small piece of paper and unfolded it, reading it.

'_Why didn't Alex tell us about this?_'

He headed back over to his bed, getting his clothes on and was about to head out the room door, when a yawn caught his ear and he turned to see jade had woke up, and she was rubbing her eyes.

"Uncle..Jackie..? Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find Alex, i won't be gone long, but please stay here."

She gave a half nod before laying back down, and the man left the room and down the stairs, heading out into the town.

•_Unknown Location•_

Bright lights were the first thing Alex saw as he woke up, his vision very blurry and it was enough to make him move his hand to cover them.

He felt..odd. It was as if his body felt heavier somehow, but it didn't seem like he had anything other than what he was wearing.

Even in his confused and delirious state, he noticed that he heard a woman that sounded around his age sobbing next to him.

He sat up slowly, using his hands and arms to keep himself up as he groaned, realizing he was on a metal table of some kind.

"Oh you're in no condition to get up."

He groaned softly, trying to focus himself, but found it difficult.

"Are..are you a doctor?"

The person he was talking to was standing over a second table, laying on it was the girl he heard sobbing as their gloved hand gripped a syringe.

"I'm more of an..entrepreneur these days.."

The person looked down at her, as if they were inspecting her.

"I really hope you're not a drinker."

The figure pushed the needle into the woman's neck, pressing the plunger down as her eye's dilated a bit and she let out a groan.

"What..what are you doing?"

The man turned towards him, and gently pushed him back down onto the table.

"Now you just lay here and wait your turn, young man, I'll be with you in a moment."

Alex slowly got back up, managing to get his legs hanging off the side of the odd table as he use what strength he had to stand up but stumbled and fell onto the linoleum floor.

He reached up and gripped onto the table and used his strength to get up onto his feet, his legs almost failing him but once the man was he finally saw where he was.

'_Oh jesus christ..i'm in a fuckin morgue?!'_

He had to get the fuck out of here, NOW.

"I told you to wait your turn.."

The figure, who know Alex could see was the man he had met earlier and who he guessed had drugged him, and that he was in doctor's uniform with what seemed like a butcher's smock and gloves-

And they were covered in blood.

"You..you.."

"What are you gonna say? Madman? Lunatic?"

"Your..ugh..a fucking murderer!"

"More like a businessman. And you're my next export..sunshine."

As he said that, he picked up and turned on a handheld electric bonesaw, the loud whirring sound filling the room as the woman stumbled off the table, probably more lucid and out of her mind than he himself was.

'Why..why is there two of him..?'

The sedative must have been stronger than the man thought as he stumbled, ran, and bashed the door to the morgue open, hurting his shoulder in the process, heading out as the man followed behind him.

"A game of cat and mouse? Just means it'll be more fun when I harvest your organs, sunshine."

•_Meanwhile in the Plaza•_

'_Of course Alex isn't here..'_

The time on the note did say 3am after all, and after glancing at his watch, he saw it read 3:45am, meaning he was likely with whoever he was meant to meet, but something didn't feel right.

"I should call him."

Jackie got his phone out, dialing his number and holding it up to his ear, but when loud ringing sounded out from nearby, he lowered the phone and ran into the alley, seeing a cellphone on the ground.

"This is alex's phone.."

He picked it up off the ground, a worried expression on his face as he closed it, before setting it in his pocket.

"I've got to find him, and El Toro."

He was about to head off to do so, but he got stopped by..El Toro?!

"El toro, what are you doing out here this late?"

"I got a note saying to meet someone here, said they wanted to talk to me."

"My friend Alex got a note like that too."

Jackie took out the note and handed it to him, who looked it over before pulling out his note, and his eyes widened.

"They were written by the same person.."

"Which means whoever lured Alex out here must have wanted you as well."

"But the real question is, where did this stranger take him?"

"We better find out before something very bad happens."

•_Back with Alex•_

He ran down the hallway, his shoes squeaking against the linoleum floor that shined lightly under the buzzing fluorescent lights above him, the whirring of a bonesaw being heard faintly behind him but he knew he couldn't stop, not yet.

The dazing effects of the sedatives were still evident as everything looked hazy, the lights not helping in the slightest with this, almost looking like he was in an odd kaleidoscope.

'_Gotta find a place to hide..then..well i don't know what but..'_

He slid and ducked behind a nearby nurse's station, hunkering into the space where a rolly chair would usually slide into as he placed a hand over his mouth to deafen his breathing as the sound of leather shoes tapping against the floor got closer and louder, as did the sound of the saw.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are.."

He gulped silently, praying to whatever deity ruled over the universe that the man would move on quickly.

As if the said entity answered, a loud noise sounded from way down the hallway, and the man headed off towards it, the saw and his footsteps growing farther away until they were non-existent.

Alex let out a sigh of relief as he stood up, going down a hallway and past what looked like examination rooms, each of the plaques of the wall faded to the point they were completely illegible.

'_Am i in a hospital or a clinic..?_'

The man shook his head, putting a hand up to his chest as he took a moment to catch what breath he had as it had slowed down, and almost panicking when he felt that his heartbeat had slowed down as well to where he could only feel it beat every few seconds.

'_Its whatever he drugged me with..i can barely focus..'_

Whatever it was, it seemed to be strong, as even though he only got one dose of it, as far as he knew anyway, its effects were latched on tight.

The girl this lunatic had taken was likely suffering more than he was, that was for sure.

He felt a sense of dread overtake him as he continued down the hallway, stumbling again as he managed to grab onto something to keep himself from falling onto his face.

"Fuckin hell..where's my phone-"

The man's eyes widened as he realized he it wasnt on him, thinking for a moment that the man who abducted him took it off of him, and yet, he hadn't seen it when he was in the morgue.

'I must have dropped it on the street when that guy ambushed me..'

"I need to find some way..to call..jackie..hell to call someone.."

Once he managed to regain the strength in his legs, he continued till he came upon another nurses station, and smiled when he saw one of those old office styled telephones on the desk.

He went behind it and shakily picked up the phone, feeling relief when he heard the dial tone and he typed jackie's number in as the man heard the call tone in his ear, though it sounded badly distorted.

•_Out in the Streets•_

Jackie and El Toro continued walking down the streets, having come out from a shop after asking if they'd seen Alex or the person that took him, but unfortunately they hadn't.

"We'll find him, Jackie."

"No one's seen him, El Toro, he could be-"

Before he could finish his sentence, his phone started to ring, and after fishing it out of his pocket, he answered it.

"Hello?"

"_Jackie! Oh thank god you answered.."_

"Alex! Are you ok? Where are you?"

The sound of something, likely the younger man's head hitting the desk could be heard through the phone.

"_To answer your first question, i mean an organ harvesting lunatic kidnapped me, drugged me heavily and is currently trying to hunt me down, but if you wanna call that 'being ok', then yea im just peachy.."_

Well, that explained why he was talking funny and the smacking noise he heard.

"_As for your second question..i think i'm some kind of hospital or clinic.."_

"There's an old clinic near the police station that got close down a few months ago-"

Before El toro could finish his sentence, the sounds of footsteps could be heard through the phone.

"Alex, who is-?"

"There you are, sunshine."

The sounds of what could only be described as a scuffle and a loud crash could be heard, making Jackie panic.

"Alex? Alex! What's going on!?"

"_Get the fuck away from me you lunatic-!"_

A loud beep suddenly came from the other end, followed by an automated message saying the call was disconnected, as he felt himself lower the phone from his ear.

"Jackie..?"

Jackie had a look of dread and worry on his face as he said only one sentence.

"We need to go to that clinic, now."

•Back at the Clinic•

He could feel the blood that soaked through his shirt as he gripped the wound on his shoulder, gritting his teeth as he ran down the hallway, the lunatic's footsteps not too far behind.

Alex knew the bastard was taking his time on purpose, the bonesaw still whirring somewhere behind him.

'_I am definitely gonna need to get shots when i get back to the states..'_

He ducked into a room, shutting the door as quickly and quietly as he could, listening carefully for him, and was thankful when footsteps and the whirring sound went past and down the hallway.

He turned around, noticing he was in an old medical supplies closet, empty cartons and bottles covering the shelves on either side of him.

He dug through, finding an old box of gauze pads and an unopened bottle of rubbing alcohol behind some empty boxes.

"Gotta find something to hold it down.."

He looked through the other shelf, finding an unopened, but small box of those large bandages used to hold down gauze pads.

"..this'll do."

He opened the rubbing alcohol and got some on a piece of the gauze, before taking a deep breath and pressed it to the wound on his shoulder, making him yell in pain through gritted teeth.

After about a minute, he removed the gauze and tossed it away, before putting a dry and clean gauze onto the wound, followed by a bandage, which he pressed down to make sure it would stay and wouldnt fall off.

'It'll have to do..Lets hope they get here soon..i don't think i can keep hiding from him for much longer.'

•Outside•

"It's..got character."

The building looked dilapidated, paint peeling off the brick wall, mold spotted on some parts of the walls, and the windows were boarded up with wood that looked rotted with time.

"There's no time to waste, we need to get inside to help your friend."

They both made their way to the front doors, and Jackie pushed on them, but they did not budge an inch.

"How are we gonna get in?"

El toro cracked his knuckles, walking past him.

"Allow me to knock."

He winded up a punch, landing in directly on the doors as they got knocked off their hinges, landing on the floor in front of them.

'_Woah..i guess the talisman's power really is super strength..'_

"After you."

Jackie nodded and they both entered into the building to find their friend, soon ending up in a lobby like area, chairs tossed all around, dead plants in the corners and the smell of mildew in the air around them.

"And i thought the outside of this place looked bad."

"Your friend has to be here somewhere-"

Before el toro could finish his sentence, a woman hobbled into view, her clothes disheveled and torn in a few places with a look of absolute fear on her face.

Jackie ran over to her, catching her as she fell over and helping her up.

"What's your name?"

"D..danielle.."

"Ok danielle, we're gonna get you and anyone else out of here."

She gave a lucid nod as Jackie turned to El Toro.

"Toro, I need you to get her outside and call paramedics for her."

The man nodded, taking her from him.

"But what about you?"

"I'll go find Alex."

El Toro nodded and went outside with Danielle, and Jackie went down the hallway next to what looked like the front desk.

•_meanwhile..•_

Alex heard a loud smash from somewhere in the building near him, and he began to run down the hallway but he got grabbed and pulled into a room and slammed against a glass doored cabinet, the shards of glass raining down on him and the floor, before he got slammed against another one of those metal tables, his back and the back of his head hitting it hard, before he landed on the floor in a heap, groaning in pain.

His vision became very blurred but he could hear footsteps come towards him as he felt someone kneel down on top of him, purposefully pressing their knee into his stomach to cause the most pain possible.

"I will admit this, sunshine, you sure have put up quite a fight, but i'm afraid it has to come to an end!"

He groaned again as he felt the man's hand grip his throat in an attempt to choke him, his eye moving to his left side as his hand gripped onto a large piece of the shattered glass, the edges of it digging into his palm and he could see red dripping from it.

"This will all be over soon-"

Before the man could finish his sentence, Alex thrusted his arm up and to the side, jamming the piece of glass into his neck, making the man gurgle as blood dripped from his mouth.

The younger man took the opportunity to take the man's hand off his throat and then gently kick him off of him, in doing so the shard of glass was pulled out of his neck, so blood poured from the wound as the man gurgled and seized as he slumped against the metal table, the life having left his eyes before he hit the ground.

Alex groaned as he tried to pick himself up, but the pain pulsing through his head and back made it difficult to do so, ending up with him laying on the floor again.

The man could faintly hear sirens blaring outside, indicating either police or paramedics, but then again it could be both.

He heard footsteps coming towards him and before he could react he was lifted off of the ground and carried outside, being put into what he could only guess was an ambulance due to the gurney he was laid on as the doors closed and he slipped into unconsciousness..

Muffled voices and a monotonous beeping filled his ears as he awoke, the smell of disinfectant coming after, and it was then he realized where he was.

"Uncle Jackie, he's awake!"

Alex smiled as he saw Jackie enter the room, and tried to lift his arm up but found he couldn't

Looking down, he noticed his left arm was in a sling of sorts, his actual arm covered in the type of bandages they used for sprains and the like.

Turning his head, the man noticed an iv was in his hand, wrapped in bandages, and the line lead to a bag of what Alex assumed was likely fluids to keep him hydrated.

"Where..?"

His voice was hoarse and croaky, something that caught him off guard. How long had he been unconcious?

"Your in the hospital, alex."

"Hospital..what happened to the girl? Is she ok?"

"She's ok, she got released yesterday."

"Good..wait, how long have i been sleeping?"

"A few days, they had to do surgery to fix your head, so they put you into a medically induced coma."

Alex felt his throat hurt, making a sort of pained face as he rubbed it gently with his free hand.

"Before we continue this conversation, can i please have some water?"

"I'll have to ask the doctor, i'll go let her know you're awake."

The man gave a nod as he laid back in the bed, the back of his head feeling..odd as he did so.

"Hey, how are you feelin?"

The man turned his head, seeing Jade looking at him, arms crossed against the metal bar at the side of the bed, having used a chair to stand up on.

"I mean..pretty good right now..least till the painkillers wear off."

Jade gave a small smile at that.

"Where's the Ox talisman..?"

In answer to that, Jade hopped down from the chair, went over to a small desk and after rifling through a bag she came back over, holding it in her hand.

"How did you guys get El Toro to hand it over?"

"Jackie explained to him what it was, I wasn't able to hear the whole conversation."

"How well did he take it?"

"Pretty well, all things considered, though once again i never got to hear the whole conversation."

At that moment, Jackie came back in with a doctor, looking around in her mid 50's with greying brown hair, having slightly wrinkling skin and glasses much like Alex's own.

She held in her hands a clipboard and pen, likely having documents on said clipboard that pertained to him in some capacity.

"Ah, Mr. greyson, glad to see you awake. How are you feeling?"

"As of right now, pretty good, but i'd say i have painkillers to thank for that."

The doctor wrote something down before speaking.

"Well, mr. greyson, im sure you must be curious as to what was done to you during your..nap."

Alex nodded as the doctor continued speaking.

Well, thankfully the back of your skull wasn't shattered completely, you were very lucky on that, but to put it simply we removed that part of your skull, and screwed a metal plate to replace it."

"..Well that explains why my head feels heavier.."

"As for your back, thankfully it was only sprained, so you'll need to rest and not do any very strenuous activity for a while."

"We'll make sure he doesn't, doctor."

"As well as you'll have to see a chiropractor to keep an eye on it to make sure no more damage is done."

Jackie gave a sort of look to him as he said that, and the man just nodded.

"Will i have the metal plate in my head permanently?"

"Yes, but it shouldnt impede anything you try to do otherwise."

The man gave a nod in response, processing what the doctor just told him.

"Oh and here, you've been cleared for clear liquids only for now."

The doctor handed him a styrofoam cup filled with ice water, which he took and began to sip from.

"When will he be released?"

"At the earliest, some time this week, we're keeping him for observation in case anything happens or needs to be done,and we'll let his primary care doctor know to keep an eye on him too."

The doctor then left, likely heading to check on other patients, leaving the three of them alone.

"You just rest, Alex, we'll be here if you need us."

"Thanks guys.."

They both smiled as Alex closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.

_Though he knew he was far from being out of the woods, at least they had the talisman to show for it._


	10. Chapter 10

•_Chiropractor's Office•_

"And how are you feeling today, Mr. Greyson ?"

He gave a sort of pained expression as he stood up, using his left hand to shakily grip the cane to keep himself from falling over..again.

"Sore, doc. But that's to be expected, i suppose."

"Well you are correct, but that is why you are here, to help relieve it, even if it is a slow process."

It's been almost a week since Alex was released from the hospital and he was adjusting very slowly.

"Now, have you been taking your medication when needed?"

"Yes."

"And any side affect's you have noticed as of late?"

"Besides feeling abit drowsy, no."

She wrote something into her computer, fingers clicking on the keys.

"Have you been doing the exercises that i showed you on our first visit in the hospital?"

"Yes. Three times a day in fact."

She typed more into her computer, clicking the mouse a few times.

"Ok, come lay back and we'll get started."

The man got up and walked over to the table laying off to the side, and with help from the doctor, laid on his stomach.

She then set a sort of heating pad on his back, turning it on low and then rolling her chair over to next to the table as she began to gently press down with her hands.

"How's this feel?"

"Good..alot better than it did this morning.."

"How did it feel this morning?"

"Locked up, i could..barely get out of bed."

Though he wasn't actually sleeping in his bed, as due to his back as well as when he hurt himself trying to get up said stairs to his room, Uncle moved him downstairs for the time being, sleeping in the backroom on a couch he had stored back there.

"Hmm..i'll prescribe you a heating blanket for you to use at home and when you sleep at night, and remember-"

"No strenuous activities, i know, i haven't forgotten."

"Good, I'm happy to see you are remembering."

After about a couple of hours, Alex left the doctor's office, his back feeling better, if only temporarily, as he made his way to the bus stop down the street.

Normally, he would have drove to his appointment, but due to his back, he didn't want to take a chance in case he got into an accident.

He didn't want to make his injuries any worse than they already were.

One of the many buses that called the city home pulled up, stopping with a loud squeak of the brakes and a burst of air as the doors opened in front of him.

He climbed up the steps, and sat down in the first set of seats made for people with disabilities, setting his cane beside him.

"Where to?"

The bus driver gave what the man thought was a sympathetic look back at him in the rearview mirror, but he didn't catch it in time to be sure.

"Chinatown, please."

"You got it."

The bus driver closed the doors and pulled out of the stop and into the street, heading for chinatown.

It was relatively quiet on the bus, an elderly couple and few students from the university being the only passengers besides himself.

He hadn't heard from Jackie yet about the Snake Talisman, though he was sure the older man was handling things just fine without him.

If anything had gone wrong the man certainly wouldve heard about it, but that didn't stop him from worrying any less.

The bus came to a lurching stop, brakes squeaking as it did so, followed by a puff of air as the doors opened and Alex stepped off, cane tapping against the hard plastic esque floor as he did so.

Once he stepped onto the sidewalk, the bus closed its doors and drove off, and the man made his way into Uncle's Rare Finds, happy to home after being out all day.

•_Antique Shop•_

"So you're finally back i see."

Alex glanced over to Shendu for a moment before he walked over and sat down in a cushy roller chair that was sitting behind the desk.

"I was only gone for a few hours, did you really miss me that much?"

Shendu huffed in response, or at least it felt like he did, it was hard to tell since he was a statue and all.

"Can't i be curious? I am trapped here all day after all."

"I never said that, i just remember you saying that mortal's interest's were beneath you."

Shendu once again huffed, his eyes glowing abit before returning to normal.

"Have you heard anything regarding the Snake Talisman?"

"No, and believe me if i had you and uncle would be the first to know about it-"

The door opening cut his sentence short as a mailman came in with a medium-large box in his hands as he walked over and set it on the desk.

"Who's this for?"

The mailman looked at the small clipboard for a moment before answering.

"It's for Alex Greyson."

"Oh that's me, i'll sign for it."

He took the clipboard, signing his name on the line and handing it back to him.

"Enjoy the rest of your day."

He then left, getting into his truck and driving away.

"Where's it from?"

Alex looked at the shipping address, and a smile formed on his face.

"It's from Virginia, so i have a hunch my family pitched in to send this to me."

"Where is this..?"

"On the east coast, i can show you on a map later."

The man opened the box, reaching in and pulled out a large case, something Shendu didn't recognize, but Alex apparently did, as his eyes went wide, and the demon wasn't sure but he swore he saw a few tears forming in them too.

"He finished it..like he promised.."

He opened the case, and pulled out a polished guitar, the surface reflecting the light and the ceiling above.

He cradled it as he sat back down, fingers gliding over the face of it before they went along the steel strings, before he strummed a few notes, making a 'hmm' sound.

His right hand went up and tuned a few of the pegs, tightening one, loosening another, and strummed a few notes again.

"What are you doing?"

He glanced over to Shendu for a moment before he went back to what he was doing.

"Tuning my guitar, gotta make sure it sounds right before i play it."

He tightened another peg, before strumming once again, smiling satisfied.

"Perfect."

The man began to play, the finger's on his right hand strumming the metal strings in a rhythmic way, with his left hand moving up and down the neck of the instrument at the same time.

It wasn't anything specific, like a song but just something simple to start out with as it has been a good few years since he played.

Shendu couldn't help but listen as the man played, having not heard music for nearly a thousand years since he was imprisoned,

and it sounded so much different in comparison to then.

The man stopped after a few minutes, flexing his fingers in an odd way, before rubbing them and his hands.

"Do your hands hurt?"

"Oh, yea, i guess its been longer than i thought since i last played is all."

"..how long exactly?"

"Hmm..well when i was in university i used to play in local bars and coffee shops for open mic nights or small gigs."

"..i see."

"Eh, it wasn't anything really, i mean i did get paid, but i cared more for the fact i was playing music for people to enjoy."

He smiled softly at the memories of the smell of alcohol, cigarette smoke, the lit up neon signs on brick walls and the smell of coffee, pastries and the warm light that poured in through glass windows.

"..Earth to mortal..Hey, you in there?"

The man seemingly snapped back to reality, shaking his head

"Oh sorry, guess i got lost in my own head there.."

The demon didn't respond as the man went back to practicing, music filling the shop once again.

"Do you know any songs?"

Alex stopped playing, taken by surprise at the question, as he turned towards Shendu.

"You..want to hear me sing while i play?"

"Yes, is there something wrong with that?"

"Well no, I was just surprised, I didn't know you liked music is all."

The dragons eyes flared up, and the man swore he could hear him growling, though it seemed more like a chuckle to him.

"..You never cease to surprise me, mortal."

"Is that a good or bad thing?"

"Like i'm telling you that."

The man cleared his throat as he began to play, fingers doing as they did earlier.

"_The dreams of young lovers are like a good wine, surprised by the richness and sorrow they'll find."_

"_Longing for something sweet, come sweep me off my feet."_

"_Hoping for some change, to take me away, for nothing in life comes free."_

The dragon was..surprised as he listened, as sure he heard the man's voice when he spoke, but this..was something else.

"_Oh, hope is a dish far too quickly consumed, pipe dreams on a plate, i'm simply run through"_

"_All alone, standing still, a table for two, bitterness plagues me, but what am i to do?"_

Shendu could almost believe he was back in his palace, his musicians playing quiet songs for him as he sat on his throne as he ruled over his kingdom, but he knew those days were long gone.

"_For nothing in life comes free..You'll see, never they'll tell me"_

"_It's written in the stars; i'll never get that far"_

"_I'll spread my wings and fly far from here, reaching for my best, and finally, my heart will be at rest.."_

The man's hands were starting to hurt like before, but he wasn't going to let that keep him from finishing the song.

"_The party's about to begin, so grab all the glasses and bottles you can"_

"_Dress up the table, and cheers to the end; of the sorrow, the sadness, all the strife we've endured"_

"_A new day is coming, those wishes been heard"_

"_Oh, sit down and enjoy what's served"_

The pain was growing worse, but he did what he could to ignore for a few more moments.

"_A new day is coming, my wishes been heard"_

"_So, sit down and enjoy what's served.."_

As the last note played, Alex moved his hands away, moving his fingers and rubbing both them and his hand's as he looked over to Shendu, who was surprisingly speechless.

"So, what did you think?"

"It was.. adequate."

_The man smiled softly, setting the guitar back into its case, shutting it._


	11. Chapter 11

**(**_Once again, i have to thank my friend for helping me with writing this story so far, without them i don't think this would be possible!_**)**

**(**_And also, comments and reviews are appreciated! Hope you enjoy!_**)**

Before Alex even realized it, he felt a severe throbbing pain in his head as seemingly every nerve had lit up at the same time, making his back pain seem like a mosquito bite by comparison.

As he started to get up, shakily gripping his cane, he felt his spine stiffen, a burning pain lighting up his nerves, making his back muscles shake as he grit his teeth.

The combination of pain became too much for him as he fell back into the chair, his cane dropping onto the floor with a loud clattering sound.

"Alex, are you ok?"

The man turned his head, seeing that Uncle had apparently come out of the back room, and was looking at him with a very concerned look on his face.

"N-not really..my back and head are killing me.."

Uncle gently placed a hand onto the younger man's shoulder, and his back, though he didn't press into it, helping him stand up.

"T-thanks Uncle..um, could you go upstairs and get my pain medication?"

"Of course, all you have to do is ask for help."

Alex smiled as the older man helped him into the back room, helping him onto the couch as gently as he could.

"Rest, uncle will bring your medicine."

"T-thanks Uncle.."

Uncle gave a soft smile as he left the room, and the younger man let out a sigh of relief mixed with pain.

'_Well, I've certainly learned my lesson from all this..'_

Alex would certainly be more careful from now on, but for right now he just had to take it easy, even if doing so made him feel somewhat useless.

Before the man could dwell on this thought, Uncle came back into the room, his medicine in one hand and a glass of water in the other.

Alex took them from him, taking two pills out of the bottle and swallowing them down with the water before he handed them back, uncle watching over him till he fell asleep.

•_Dark Hand HQ•_

"Yuzuki, you said that you would help us find the Talismans of Shendu, and yet, it seems like to me that we have none while Chan and his little entourage have three so far!"

The japanese man leaned against Valmonts desk, ignoring the other mans glare as he dug a flask out of his pocket, opened it and took a swig out of it before he screwed it close.

"You forget, dear valmont, that there are twelve talisman's total, and while yes, chan has acquired three of them, there are still nine to be found."

"Beside's, I came through with those translation's, didn't i? Otherwise how would you have found out about the talisman's in the first place?"

Valmont sighed, getting out of his chair and walking over to the window, the view overlooking most of downtown, the bay and the golden gate bridge off towards the horizon.

"That you did.."

He fiddled with the cane in his hands for a moment or two before a lightbulb went off in his head and he turned back around to face the other man.

"Yuzuki..how do you feel about field work?"

Yuzuki smiled as he took another swig from the flask, a drop of what was inside falling down his chin.

"Valmont, old friend..i thought you'd never ask."

•_Uncle's Rare Finds•_

"Uncle! We're back, and we have the Snake Talisman!"

"Aiya! Can you keep your voice down, it's interrupting Uncle's research!"

Uncle had exited the back room of the shop, a book held under his arm like one would carry a rolled up tent.

"But uncle-ow!"

Before Jackie could finish his sentence, Uncle finger swatted him on his head.

"One more thing, Alex is sleeping like a baby, so do not wake-!"

Before Uncle could finish his sentence, a loud yawn filled the back room, followed by the shuffling of feet and then by the man in question exiting the room, but everyone could tell that he was walking stiffly, as if the man had a plank of wood tied to his back.

"Glad to see i haven't missed the party.."

"How do you feel?"

The man stretched lightly, even with his back pain gone for the moment, he didn't want to do any lasting damage.

"Good, for right now anyway, but i see we got the next talisman."

"We might have it, but we have bigger problems."

Alex looked at Jackie confused, wondering what he meant by that sentence.

"We need to go talk to Captain Black."

"I'll go with ya, i want to enjoy being able to walk right till the meds wear off."

Despite that sentence, the man still held his walking cane in his left hand, the rubber tip of it pressed into the wooden floor.

"Well, what are we waiting for, Jackie?"

The older man nodded as they both exited the shop, Jade attempting to follow them but she was stopped by Uncle before she even made it to the door.

•_At Section 13•_

"Ok, lets not let J.K. Rowling see that little secret entrance, shall we?"

Jackie gave him an odd look, but Alex just gave a smile as they exited the lift and out onto the main floor.

Thankfully they didn't need to look far to find the man they were looking for, as he was taller than Alex and Jackie, and looked intimidating even from the distance between them.

It reminded the younger man of his own father, though Alex's father was much, much older than Captain Black.

"Ah, Jackie, good to see your back, how was new york city?"

"And Alex, glad to see you up and about, how are you feeling?"

"Good, for now till the pain medicine wears off."

"Tiring, to say the least, but we need to talk to you."

"Don't say it's about the '_M'_ word."

Both Alex and Jackie exchanged a look with each other for a moment before Alex decided to speak up.

"Well, it's got um..something to do with it.."

"How much, exactly?"

"..You'll want to hear this, Captain Black."

Jackie had spoke up this time, as all three of them walked out of the main area, and down a hallway, entering into a room off to the side.

It was a meeting room of sorts, possibly for meetings Black would have with his agents or any possible government visitors that dropped in.

Once the three of them were inside, the door was locked, likely to make sure they weren't interrupted.

"Ok Jackie, what is it you need to talk about?"

•_Meanwhile•_

To say Jade was bored would be an understatement, true she did have homework that she had to do, but that could wait.

After all, she could always do it later with help from Jackie and Alex.

Speaking of, she needed to get Alex put as one of her emergency contacts at school, just in case.

"What is it that you want, tiny mortal?"

Jade pushed the rolling chair over so it was a couple of feet in front of the demon, into which she climbed up into that way she was more eye to eye with it.

"Why would you think i have some kind of underlying motive? Maybe i just want to talk."

A sort of sound filled her head, similar to radio feedback, which made her wince as it grew loud before it slowly fizzled out and Shendu spoke.

'_Ow..how does Uncle Jackie and Alex deal with this..?'_

"Because I know you're craftier than you seem."

Jade huffed, crossing her arms as she did so.

"It's called helping my Uncle."

More sound filled the young girl's head, making her wince again, but this time she swore it was like Shendu was..chuckling?

"You can call it whatever you wish, child, it is still foolish nonetheless."

Jade's attention was diverted away as the front door to the shop opened, showing Jackie and Alex walking in, the younger man walking more stiff than before.

"Jade, why don't you go get your homework from upstairs? Me and Jackie will help you with it."

The girl ran up the stairs, Jackie catching the hint and following behind her, which left both Alex and Shendu alone.

"If you wish to play for me again, then..-"

"That's not why i need to talk to you, Shendu."

The demon seemed taken aback by the man's statement, as it fell silent.

"We..we are gonna be moving you."

The statue's eyes flared up for a moment, as if what Alex said had caught it's attention.

"Where exactly?"

Much like before, something akin to radio feedback filled the man's head, quickly replaced by Shendu's voice, but instead of the subtle playful tone he was used to hearing from the demon, it was replaced by what sounded like..fear..?

It certainly caught him off guard, that was for sure.

"Section 13, at least until we get the rest of the talismans, since the Dark Hand knows about them now."

More of the noise filled Alex's head, sounding like Shendu was sighing in relief, but it was hard for the man to tell.

"If it is required of me, then I shall bite my tongue."

"Oh well if it's no iss..wait what?"

Alex had to do a double take to make sure he didn't imagine hearing what the demon sorcerer just said.

"Well, as you know Ale..mortal, the talisman's are very important to me, to lose them would be rather..problematic."

'_He..he almost said my name..'_

The man felt an oddly warm feeling rise up in him, but couldn't place what it was.

"Mortal, are you alright?"

"Oh! Um, yea..i was just lost in thought for a moment."

Before the conversation between them could continue, Jade and Jackie came down the stairs, Jade holding papers in her hands

"Come on, Alex!"

The man smiled softly, before he walked over to them and they went into the backroom, leaving Shendu alone.

'_Why did i almost say his name?'_

The statue grumbled to himself, cursing this shell was trapped in, wishing he could escape it's grasp.

'_And that smile..why does it make me feel warm..when i see it?'_


	12. Chapter 12

•_Somewhere over the Pacific Ocean•_

"Explain to me again why we're flying on a public airplane instead of our usual jet?"

"To help us blend in, that way we can search for the talisman without arousing suspicion."

The younger man laid back in the seat, trying his best to ignore the fact he was in a cramped space with about..30+ people, though it did nothing to keep his nerves in check as he began to tap his fingers against the arm rest in a vain attempt to curb those thoughts.

Jackie seemingly took notice of the man's actions, taking the headphones from around his own neck and gently placing them into Alex's hands, making his eyes widen.

"You need them more than I do."

A smile formed on Alex's face as he slipped the headphone onto his ears, the sounds around him becoming muffled.

"T-thanks."

He gave the younger man a nod, a smile on his face as well, before turning back to look out of the window.

Alex took slow breaths as his nerves calmed down, his fingers fiddling with the bracelets he wore around his left wrist, but were always hidden behind his plaid jacket sleeve.

That wasn't to say the man was ashamed of them, which he wasn't, in fact he was proud of them, as they meant alot to him.

The man pulled his hand away, laying it on the arm rest, and laying his chair back in a more reclined position, closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep.

"_So, how does it look?"_

"_It looks good, Mr. Greyson, almost fully healed as a matter of fact. You should be able to go without any coverings in a couple of days, but we'll go ahead and put on some clean ones since your here."_

_The man nodded as the nurse began to gently remove the old bandages, tossing them into the waste bin and then placing clean and sterile ones on._

"_Thanks doctor."_

"_It is no problem, just follow Cathy out to the front desk and she'll get you all settled."_

_Alex still couldn't believe it had been a couple of weeks since his surgery, and yet, here he was._

_What he really couldn't wait for was to tell his family, the thought making him smile widely as he exited the examination room, heading out to the waiting room._

"Alex..alex..it's time to get up.."

The dream faded to nothing as the man's eye's opened slowly, showing Jackie standing up beside him, as he reached up and took the headphones off.

"What..?"

"We've landed in Sydney, we have to disembark."

"Oh..yea.."

Alex slowly got up out of the seat, yawning as he did so, reaching up into the luggage compartment and grabbing his bookbag and slipping it onto his shoulders as they both followed the line of people out of the plane and into the airport.

•_Meanwhile at Section 13•_

To say Shendu was bored was an understatement, silently cursing this shell he was trapped in, as well as this place he found himself moved to, under the pretense of his own safety.

As if anything could actually bring him harm, even in this form, but even if something could, and even if he lost his physical body in the process, to him it was only a minor inconvenience.

He could just find a mortal to possess and he'd have a physical form again, simple as that, though he hoped it would never come to that.

His eyes fell onto a chair that sat in the middle of the large and barren room, its cloth newer and more intact than the one he had seen in the shop, but it wasn't empty.

Upon the seat of the chair sat a book, and a rather old one at that, the leather bound edges worn and the image on the front faded, but was still legible as to what it was called.

The image itself was of a girl in a blue dress staring up at a tree, in said tree was a rather large cat with an odd face, upon which a large grin.

Beside that, written in an odd font that he had never seen before were the words '_Alice in Wonderland'_, a rather odd title for a book in the demon's opinion, but it was whatever.

Still, he wondered why ale..the mortal had left it in the chair, rather than take it with him when he left?

'He may have just forgotten it..'

At the same time he figuratively kicked himself over almost saying the mortal's name again, quickly chocking it up to a slip of the tongue.

Yet, it didn't feel like that. In fact, that odd, warm feeling he felt before had come back, and he still couldn't understand why he was feeling it, or what exactly it meant.

Maybe he could talk to him when he got back?

•_Back in Sydney, Australia•_

"Well, i can cross Sydney off of my travel bucket list now."

"You've wanted to travel to Australia before you pass away?"

The man smiled softly as they exited the airport and stepped out into the morning light that covered the city.

"Yea, i've been wanting to go to alot of places around the world..i guess as a sort of walkabout."

Jackie didn't say anything in response as they were stopped by a man, looking aborigines in origin, wearing a white button up shirt and a brown leather jacket and a pair of blueish shorts with sandals.

"Are you Jackie Chan and Alex Greyson?"

The two of them looked at each other surprised before Jackie spoke up.

"Um..yes we are..who are you?"

"My name is Marlee, but we must hurry, follow me, my jeeps just over here."

They were both hesitant,especially Alex, but at the same time the two men couldn't help but be ever so slightly curious, and followed Marlee to his jeep, setting their bags in the back trunk, Jackie getting in the front passenger's seat and Alex getting in the back seat.

Once in, the jeep pulled out and onto the main road, heading out of the city and into the Outback.

"So, how did you know who we are?"

"My grandfather. He's an elder of the Anangu tribe."

The jeep continued down the road, the road itself turning from asphalt and onto red dirt and rock, causing the jeep to bump around slightly.

"The Pitjantjatjara Anangu?"

"Yes, I see you've done your research."

Jackie looked back at him, the younger man smiling softly as he did so.

"I didn't know you knew that, Alex."

"I spent quite a lot of time in libraries growing up, i'll just say that, but, anyway, how did your grandfather know we were coming?"

"The dreamtime spirits told him."

They both look confused for a moment, sharing a glance between each other before Jackie spoke up.

"Dreamtime spirits?"

"Yes, they're a very important part of the tribe, in legends passed down through the ages that the spirits created the world."

"However, my grandfather said that it was the Adnoartina that contacted him."

"Who is that?"

"The spirit that guards Uluru, or as its known to many, Ayers Rock."

Before their conversation could continue, the jeep started to sputter loudly, before the engine gave out and Marlee pulled off onto the side of the road, as smoke poured from underneath the hood.

"Well this is a right fucking bingle.."

Marlee hit the steering wheel with his clenched fist, letting out a sigh of exasperation.

"With the engine messed up, i don't know if we can make it back before sundown.."

A sort of lightbulb clicked in Alex's head, as he took off his jacket, leaving him in his usual dark grey tank top, setting it in the seat beside him, which revealed that he had tattoos on both arms, both going from his shoulders down to his elbows.

Both being of a tribal design, and made in black ink.

"Hey marlee, you got a toolbox in the back?"

"Um..yes actually, it should be a metal box thats painted red up against the back of the back seat."

The younger man got out of the vehicle, opening the back and grabbed the toolbox, his back aching a tiny bit as he lifted and carried it, pulling the hood up on the jeep, letting the smoke fade into the mid-morning air.

Alex bent down, once again his back aching a tiny bit as the man grabbed a flashlight from the box, pulling down the hood so to provide some shade as well as to make it easier for the flashlight to illuminate.

After a minute or two of searching with the light, he found what caused the problem.

"Ah, i see the problem.."

Marlee stuck his head out of the window, though he was unable to see past the hood.

"Did you find the issue?"

"Your fuel injectors are clogged, though thankfully they'll only need to be cleaned rather than fully replaced."

Marlee let out a sigh of relief as the younger man got each of the injectors off, cutting himself a couple of times in the process, and cleaned each of them, one by one, before reattaching them and making sure they were correctly re-fitted, which took a good four hour's work.

Alex slammed the hood down, locking it into place as he, with the help of jackie, got the tools into the toolbox and cleaned his hands and the cuts, wrapping them up using the medkit he kept in the jeep, to keep them from getting infected.

They both got back into the jeep, Marlee cranking the ignition and the engine roaring to life as they pulled back onto and drove down the road.

"Thanks for fixing my car, Alex."

"Oh, it's no problem, though, you should really be thanking my dad and grandfather, as if it weren't for them, i wouldn't know most of what i know..at least for cars anyway."

The man smiled softly as he laid back in the seat, the midday sun above them in the sly above them, the trio thankful they were in a vehicle.

•_Alice Springs•_

"I didn't think there would be a town all the way out here."

The jeep took a right turn and started to go down, rolling past some houses and what seemed like farm silos.

"It surprises most people that come here, but this place is called Alice Springs, or as its known to the original inhabitants, Mparntwe."

Alex and Jackie were just glad the Dark Hand hadn't shown up yet, but they knew it probably wasn't going to be long before they did.

The jeep came to a halt, parking off to the side in front of a double wide, and the trio got out into the early evening air.

"So, do you know where the talisman is, Marlee?"

"No, but my grandfather does, he's the one you'll have to talk to."

"Where is your grandfather?"

"Likely in a meeting with the other elder's, so we may have to wait a little while."

The trio walked down the dirt road, the purple sky above them starting to become dotted with stars that weren't held down by light pollution.

Alex took out his phone and quickly snapped a photo, saving it onto his gallery and slipped it back into his pocket, not missing a beat in his step.

Though something sweet in the air caught the younger man's attention, making him sniff for a few moments, which caught their attention as well.

"Alex, is something wrong?"

"There's something in the air, it smells sweet, like cotton candy.."

"Oh, that's probably the elders, they like to burn eucalyptus bark for incense."

A small smile formed on the younger man's face as they kept walking, soon coming upon an old hut that seemed out of place amongst the other houses, but the smell of the incense could be smelled coming from it even as they approached.

"Grandfather, i'm back! And I've brought them!"

Shuffling could be heard from within the hut, before an old man, looking like a much, much older version of Marlee with greyed hair and beard, and holding onto a wooden staff decorated with symbols and trinkets, stepped out and smiled upon seeing the trio.

"I'm glad to see you're ok, Marlee."

The man smiled as the old man's eye's laid upon Jackie and Alex, and he slowly walked over to them.

"I see the spirit's were not wrong about you two."

The two younger men glanced at each other, before Alex spoke up.

"So, you know why we're here, then?"

The old man nodded, the trinkets on his staff swaying slightly as he did so.

"That i do, yes."

"And, you likely know we aren't the only one's after it?"

The old man nodded again.

Before Alex could ask another question, Jackie decided to speak up.

"Can you give it to us?"

"I'm afraid it's not up to just me."

They shared a confused look between them for a moment.

"So, the other elder's have to allow it too, or..?"

The old man shook his head and beckoned them inside his hut, the trio heading inside after he did.

The inside of the hut was a lot bigger than it looked on the outside, with an open area in the front with a lit campfire and what looked like a kettle hanging over it, tables against the back wall, like being a makeshift kitchen, and off to the far left side was likely his bedroom, with a bed set against the wall.

"Woah..it's like the TARDIS."

Marlee stifled a laugh using his hand, and Jackie simply smiled at Alex's comment.

"So, what exactly do we have to do to get the talisman?"

"You must show the dreamtime spirits you are worthy of protecting it."

"And how do we do that?"

In response, the man bopped Alex on the head with his staff like Rafiki did to Simba in The Lion King.

"You did not let me explain, child."

'_I have a feeling this guy and Uncle would get along swimmingly..'_

"You must enter the dreamtime, letting your spirit free from it's earthly vessel, allowing it to travel freely through the world, only then will you get what you're seeking."

Jackie and Alex looked at each other, both having confused looks on their faces, at least, until the younger man seemingly had a lightbulb moment.

"You mean..we have to enter the dreamtime to get to the talisman?"

Once again, Alex got bopped on the head by the elder's staff.

"I did not say both of you would."

"So, one of us has to go get the talisman, while the other protects them from any external threats?"

The elder nodded. "In such a state, the physical vessel is very vulnerable, especially to dark forces."

Alex and Jackie looked at each other, silently conversing on who exactly would be the one to go after the talisman, and who would act as a bodyguard.

The younger man stuttered on his words before swallowing. "I-i'll..i'll go after the talisman."

Jackie looked at Alex, eyes widened in surprise, as he, like the younger man, stuttered on his words.

"A-are you sure? You're just as capable as me in-"

Alex cut him off before he could finish his sentence. "After what happened in Mexico, I'd rather be the one who doesn't fight this time around. Besides, you have more experience fighting those guys than I do."

Jackie wanted to say something, but knew it wouldn't do much good, as he also knew that once that younger man's mind was set on something, it was hard to convince him to do otherwise.

"Alright, if you must, i can't stop you."

Alex turned to the elder. "Ok, so what must i do?"

"We must prepare you for the journey ahead." The elder answered.

The elder did a gesture to both marlee and jackie, and the two older men left the hut.

The elder went over to a small stone bowl, which seemed to be full of some kind of pigmented ink, and he dipped two fingers in, and using them, gently painted the pigment onto the younger man's face, as the other elder's entered the hut, carrying small stone bowls of their own, and began to do the same to his arms and legs.

"These are symbols of protection, they will keep your physical vessel safe, at least for a little while longer than normal."

Though, that explanation did nothing to make the younger man feel any less nervous.

Another elder decided to speak up. "We have to get your chest and back next."

Alex felt his throat tighten, making his breath come out wheezily, as if he had just run a marathon, but he tried to shake it off. "S-sure."

He slipped his shirt off, tossing it off to the side as the elder's got back to their work, and Alex gave a sigh of relief inwardly.

After finishing with the symbols on his legs, and the odd pot over the campfire was steaming, almost like a tea kettle, one of the elders poured some into a bowl, before handing it to the younger man.

It didn't smell bad, but at the same time, it didn't smell good, either. It honestly reminded him of that soup they'd serve in the cafeteria in high school.

Though that comparison really did not make him want to actually drink it any more than he already did.

"You must drink all of it, Alex."

He took a breath before he set the edge of the bowl to his lips, opening them enough so whatever concoction they poured into it would go down his throat as he tipped the bowl up and began to drink it.

Within about a minute or so, Alex emptied the bowl, gently setting it down on the floor.

"Ok, what happens now..?"

After asking that question, the younger man immediately began to feel sleepy, his body going heavy as his eyes closed and he drifted off into sleep, the elders laying him down on the floor gently.

"I sense darkness coming towards us." One of the elder's said.

Each of them shared a look, before they each took a hold of their staff, and tapped them against the ground, and a barrier, although unseen to normal eyes, formed around Alex's soulless body.

•_Outside•_

The silence of the night was broken as a jeep pulled up a few feet in front of the two men, the enforcers stepping out of it, in which Jackie narrowed his eyes.

"Well, well, if it isn't Chan. No surprise that you would be here." Chow said.

"The feeling's mutual." Jackie said.

Marlee looked between them, for a few moments before speaking. "I'm guessing those guys aren't your friends..?"

"You are correct." Jackie answered.

"You know the drill, Chan. Just hand over the talisman and no one gets hurt." Finn said.

Jackie looked to Marlee, giving a silent nod towards him, and Marlee gave a thumbs up to him back.

"2 versus 3, seems pretty fair to me." Marlee said.

"We just have to keep Alex safe." Jackie said.

Marlee nodded as Ratso charged, and he dodged the first few punches that were thrown, unfortunately he couldn't dodge the left hook that connected to his jaw, making him stumble back and almost fall.

Jackie, meanwhile, dodged both Finn's and Chow's punches and kicks as he grabbed a wooden bucket, using it to block one of finn's punches before he put it onto Chow's head, and pushed him into Finn.

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

Chow's muffled response was ignored as Finn attempted to remove said bucket, only for them both to get knocked onto the ground as Marlee cracked his knuckles, a smirk on his face.

"That wasn't too bad, was it?" Marlee asked.

"And here i thought i could place my trust into you three like Valmont has..now that i've seen you get your asses handed to you, i think that was a mistake." Someone said.

Both of the men turned their attention to the person speaking, having gotten out of the passenger's side of the jeep.

"Who are you?" Jackie asked.

"I'm gonna go out on a limb and say this guy isn't your friend, either." Marlee said.

"My name is Yuzuki, but onto more important matters, as i believe you and i are the after the same thing." He said, as he fiddled with pocket watch's chain.

Jackie got into a fighting stance, a look of not anger but seriousness on his face. "You aren't getting the talisman, i can promise you that."

Yuzuki smirked as he set the pocket watch back into his suit pants pocket, cracking his knuckles. "Oh well, i suppose i'll just have to get it from you by force." He said.

•_Spirit World (a few minutes earlier..)•_

Alex opened his eyes, the first thing that hit him was the bright, full moon that hung in the sky above, drenching him and everything around in it's soft glow.

The second thing that hit him was the realization that he wasn't in the hut anymore, hell, the man wasn't sure he was even in australia anymore.

He then remembered what happened and what he was sent here to do, only feeling like moments ago, and slowly picked himself off of the dirt and grassy ground he laid upon, allowing Alex to see where he was. Which was, as it turns out, was in the meadow as a grassy meadow, the blades gleaming like miniature swords in the moonlight, but he was thankful they didn't cut him.

"Is this..the Dreamtime?" The man asked to himself as he saw no one else around.

"Dreamtime, Spirit World, the name may be different but it's always the same place." A voice answered, which made the man look around, wondering who exactly had said that.

"I'm down here!" The voice said, sounding like it in front of him.

The man looked down, seeing a small lemur like creature looking up at him, it's fur snow white with it's belly and paws having grey fur covering them.

"Hello." The creature said, which made Alex yelp and fall back onto his ass, and scuttle back out of reflex.

"W-what are you?!" The man yelled, more out of shock than anger.

"I'm an animal spirit, but most call me Lenu." The lemur said quite nonchalantly, as if it had been through this plenty of times before.

"Ok..Lenu, my name's Alex." Alex said, slowly calming down knowing they weren't a threat.

"Nice to meet you, though, I must say it has been quite a while since we got a human from the mortal realm here that wasn't dead." Lenu said, walking over to the much taller man.

"Lenu, do you happen to know where I could find a talisman here?" The man asked, having kneeled down so he could be near eye to eye with them.

"I do yes, actually." Lenu answered, scratching his back with one of his paws.

'Well, at least that's something.' alex thought as he nodded.

"I can take you to it, but you'll have to go on your own after that." Lenu said, climbing up Alex's body and resting on his shoulder.

"Then we better hurry." The man said as Lenu jumped off and ran through the grass, with Alex following behind him.

•_Back with Jackie•_

"I must admit, Chan, you're quite the opponent to fight!" Yuzuki said as he wiped away some blood from under his mouth with his wrist.

Both Jackie and Marlee were panting, looking beat up, more so than when they were previously fighting the enforcers.

"This guy..he certainly isn't like them.." Marlee said as he held his arm, a large cut being seen on his jacket, going down to skin.

"Yea..where did The Dark Hand find him..?" Jackie said, rubbing his wrist, as he was sure he had sprained it.

"I'm an old friend of Valmont's, as a matter of fact, though I'm only helping him gather the talisman's, I have no interest in whatever other scheme's he may have planned." Yuzuki answered.

"I don't know..how much longer i can..keep this up.." Marlee said, between trying to catch his breath.

"We have to, at least until Alex gets the talisman." Jackie said.

"Well..i just hope he hurries.." Marlee said as he slowly rose back onto his feet.

•_Back in the Spirit World•_

After running for what felt like ages, the duo stopped on the edge of a dense bamboo forest, the moonlight not doing much to show whatever laid within.

"So..this is where the talisman is?" Alex asked as Lenu climbed onto his shoulder.

"Yes, but most spirit's don't go in, so you'll have to continue on alone." Lenu answered as he hopped off of the man's shoulder and began to walk away.

"Hey Lenu?" The man asked, as the lemur spirit turned back towards him.

"Yes?" The lemur answered, looking up at him.

"Could you wait here for me?" Alex asked.

Lenu seemed to go into thought for a moment or two, before he gave a nod.

The man smiled, before he walked into the forest, the soft soil beneath him making his shoes sink in, but not enough to hinder him, as he walked, weaving through the thick columns, but being careful to not damage them.

However, even despite the moonlight that managed to shine it's way through the canopy above, it was still dark enough that he accidentally bumped into something, falling onto the ground and rubbing his forehead with his hand.

"Ow..what did i bump into?" he said to himself as he looked up, and saw that in fact it was what looked like a tall statue, which was blocking some light that came through, splitting it so it hit the area around it.

The statue itself depicted a man, a rather old man at that judging from the large beard and moustache he had, as well as his wrinkled features, and wearing what looked like ancient chinese robes, Alex dictating these features to memory, as he could do research when he got back to the shop.

The man got back up onto his feet, walking around the statue to make sure the talisman was hidden at the base, before he climbed onto said base and ran his hands down the roughened surface, slick in places due to moss and other plant life, but it didn't bother him.

"..Oh don't tell me it's up his sleeve." Alex said, pinching his forehead.

Moving his body to the right, he grabbed onto the statue's other arm for support and stability, he began to reach his arm into the stone sleeve that hung off the other arm.

'_This is no different than sticking your arm into a catfish den, Alex..'_

Though, again, that comparison really didn't make him want to do it more than he already wanted to.

Alex took a deep breath to steady his nerves and began to worm his hand and arm into the space, the appendage slowly going deeper in until he was up to his shoulder and standing at a very weird angle.

When his hand grabbed something, he quickly pulled his arm out, as his other hand grasped onto a patch of the moss, causing him to lose his balance and fall onto the ground.

"Ok..ow.." alex said as he lifted his left arm, which was noticeably scratched up, likely from the roughened stone, but thankfully no blood could be seen.

The man opened his closed hand, showing he had grabbed the talisman, which had the image of a sheep carved into it, the color being a lightish blue.

Alex let out a sigh of relief, before picking himself up out of the dirt, dusting his shorts and shirt off and he started to make his way out of the grove.

•_Meanwhile•_

"You need to give up, Chan, your friend right there's already got the right idea." Yuzuki said as he nodded towards Marlee, who was currently lying on the ground with a black eye and a bloody nose, trying his best to catch his breath.

"I won't." Jackie said, as he slowly stood up from his kneeling position.

The man honestly felt like he was going to pass out, but he couldn't, not until..-

"Hey, you lookin for me?" A voice called out from behind Jackie, which made both him and Yuzuki look, seeing Alex standing in the doorway to the hut.

"Alex, your back!" Jackie said, a smile forming onto his face and the younger man nodded.

"Ah, mister greyson, i was beginning to worry you weren't going to join the party." Yuzuki said, smirking at the man.

Alex's eyes widened slightly before he shook his head. "How the hell do you know who i am?" The question coming out before the man had a chance to stop himself.

The older japanese cracked his knuckles. "Oh it isn't too hard to know things, especially with the connections I have."

"Then again, you aren't exactly a man, are you?" The japanese man said, an almost sadistic smirk decorating his face.

Before anyone could even realize what was happening, Alex had connected his fist to

Yuzuki's nose, droplets of blood spraying out as the younger man sent the older one sprawling out in the dirt, letting out a yell of pain as his hand gripped onto his likely now broken nose.

But before Yuzuki could even attempt to try to retaliate, he felt himself getting picked up by his armpits and carried off, but not before he gave the younger man a look that said '_you may have won this round, but you won't win the next.'_

The man's fist shook as he held it in a clenched position, the seemingly out of nowhere burst of anger making Jackie's eyes widen in shock.

"Alex, are you..ok?" Jackie asked, concern filling his words.

Alex took a deep breath for a few moments before releasing it, feeling his anger wash away and back to where it was needed, which was certainly not here.

"Yea, i'm..i'm ok." He answered, wiping his hand on his shorts nonchalantly.

"Damn..that guy sure did a number on me.." Marlee said as he had regained enough strength to stand up.

"Are you going to be ok, Marlee?" Jackie asked, looking the man over.

"Eh, i've been in worse scraps than this." Marlee said, even though he was clearly limping slightly.

"Do you have the talisman, Alex?" Jackie asked as he rubbed his shoulders and arms one after the other, popping joints as he did so.

The younger man dug into his shorts pocket for a moment before he pulled out the object in question, and held it in his palm. "Sure do, Jackie." He answered.

"Good, keep it safe till we get back to the shop." The man said, which the younger man nodded in response to.

"I'll drive you two back to Sydney, it's the least i could do." Marlee said, which both men smiled softly at.

After saying goodbye to the elder's, the trio got into Marlee's jeep and drove back to Sydney, both men saying their goodbye's once again, and headed into the airport, booking a flight and soon after boarding the plane.

"Sorry about getting so angry before, Jackie. I don't know what came over me.."

Alex said, his fingers and knuckles on his left hand having bruised slightly, but the man knew it would only get worse later on.

"It's ok, we all get angry at one time or another, but we have to make sure we don't let our anger control us." Jackie said, putting a hand on the younger man's shoulder.

Alex gave a soft smile before he turned to the talisman that he held in his palm, wondering to himself if the dreamtime spirits the elder spoke of led him to it and allowed him to find it or if it was just dumb luck.

The man shook his head as he laid back in the seat, the darkened cabin almost seeming peaceful as most of the passengers were asleep or getting there, which meant he was in no danger of having a meltdown.

He knew he could get at least a little bit of shut eye at the moment, so he closed his eyes and let his mind drift off to sleep.

•_San Francisco•_

"I'll get the talisman to Shendu, you go get some sleep, Jackie." Alex said, letting out a yawn as they entered the antique shop, the younger man setting his suitcases down.

Jackie couldn't argue with that, as he was too tired to even consider doing so. So, he gave the younger man a nod before he headed upstairs with his suitcases, while Alex headed outside and to a nearby phone booth, heading into Section 13.

Upon the elevator stopping, he stepped out and walked across the main floor, going down a hallway or two before stopping in front of a large vault door.

Entering the code, Alex waited as the door slowly unlocked and opened, allowing the man to step inside, the lights inside activating as he did so, revealing Shendu, still hanging on the far wall.

He was used to the noise that filled his head before the trapped demon spoke by now, whereas before it always made his head hurt, but now, it was almost comforting in a way.

"Good to see you are still in one piece, mortal." Shendu said, followed by what could possibly have been yawning, but the man was not sure if that was exactly what it was.

"Were you worried about me, again?" Alex asked, letting out a yawn himself.

"I told you before, I can't help but be curious as I am trapped in this form." Shendu answered, sounding serious, but his tone of voice towards the mortal gave him away.

"Sure, sure, call it what you may." The younger man said, smiling as he dug into his pocket, pulling out the talisman and putting it into the slot next to the snake talisman, which made Shendu let out a satisfied hiss.

It wasn't until after the demon absorbed the talisman's energy that he noticed the mortal's left hand.

"What happened to your hand?" He asked, his tone showing a glimmer of concern, though the man seemingly didn't catch it.

"Oh, it's nothing, just got into a scrap was all, no big deal." Alex answered, giving an absentminded wave of his other hand.

Of course, he wasn't sure if Shendu believed it or not, but hoped he did.

The demon seemed to think to himself for a moment or two, likely on what he was to say next, which didn't bother Alex much.

"Since I am technically trapped two-fold, I must ask something of you, mortal." He said.

"What? Like a favor? Because we're already gathering the talisman's for you, any other magic stuff is gonna have to wait." The man said, as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"No, nothing like that." Shendu said.

"Then what do you want?" Alex asked, another yawn breaking free from him.

"A television." The demon answered simply.

Of all things that Shendu could ask for, that certainly wasn't one of them. "You're sure?" The man asked.

"Yes, it will help relieve the constant boredom I am forced to suffer through." Shendu answered, his eye's flashing for a moment.

"I don't see why not, but I will have to talk to Captain Black about it, but it will have to be after i get some rest." Alex said.

Shendu grumbled, but understood that unlike him, Alex, and mortals in general needed sleep to keep themselves functioning, same with eating and drinking, besides, patience was a virtue he was more than willing to have.

"See you in the morning, Shendu." The young man said.

"And you as well." The demon said as the man headed out of the vault, the large door slowly closing, followed by the lights turning off, which blanketed the room and himself in total darkness.


	13. Chapter 13

•_Section 13•_

Shendu sat in the pitch black darkness of the room, his red eyes flashing for a moment before they went dark, the color fading from them but not returning as his astral form left what he could call his physical form, floating out into the room, letting out a satisfied hiss as he did so.

It wasn't the true freedom he had been craving for the past nine hundred plus years, but it was a start at the very least.

The demon floated out through the vault door, heading down the hallway and entering into the main room, which was bare of life, minus himself and what looked like someone at the far end of the room.

Curiosity rose in the demon's mind as it floated across the room, closer to whoever was there, but once he was close enough, he recognized it to be Alex, and he seemed to be talking to someone.

"..Yea i'm ok, Ma, i've just been pretty busy with the University and all."

Shendu took notice of the man's mannerism's, how he rubbed his arm with his hand, the look on his face that showed mild annoyance but at the same time a sense of relief, likely from speaking to this "Ma".

The demon figured that this person was someone important to the man, as he tuned back into their conversation.

"..How's dad and the others? I know Sarah's just graduated high school a couple days ago, and i'm sorry that i couldn't make it..-"

Even though he was listening closely, Shendu couldn't make out what the person was saying, but the sorcerer could now make a good guess to say that this person was likely the mortal's mother, the one who brought him into this world.

"..i know ma, but i still feel bad about not being there for them, ya know?" The man said as he leaned against the nearby concrete wall, a silent yawn coming from him.

"I know, they understand that i'm busy and all, but.."

The man let out a sigh of exasperation, apparently from what Shendu could tell was being cut off mid sentence.

"Ma, i know, i just..yea, i love you too."

The demon took another note of how Alex's demeanor changed, his posture going from stiff to relaxed, almost slouching against the wall, and the expression changing to one of what seemed like contentment.

"I'll be around for thanksgiving, ma, don't worry..ok, i'll talk to you again soon, night.."

The dragon said nothing, not that they could hear him anyhow, as the mortal put what he likely used to speak to his birther, remembering said mortal calling it a '_mobile phone'_, into his pocket and stepped over to the elevator, pressing the call button and stood, waiting for it.

After a minute or two, it arrived and Shendu saw alex step into it, and slid through the doors as they were closing.

The demon floated off to the side, keeping about a foot of distance between himself and Alex, as the man pressed the up button on the elevator panel and after a few moments, they started to move in that direction with a groaning lurch upwards.

It was quiet, given the fact that the mortal had no clue that Shendu was there, and the fact that even if he did speak, Alex wouldn't be able to hear him.

After a few minutes, the elevator came to a lurching stop, and the man exited out of the phone booth, and into the alleyway, the demon following behind him.

•_San Francisco•_

The night air, even in his astral form, felt warm to him, with a hint of saltiness to it, which filled the demon with a sense of nostalgia, reminding him of the days long past that he spent ruling over his empire of ancient china, before he was deposed, that is.

Still, he would soon see himself return to power soon enough, as long as those mortal's kept bringing him his talisman's.

Turning his attention away from his thoughts, he managed to catch a glimpse of the mortal entering into the shop he had called home for the past almost two months, but instead of following him, the demon floated up into the night sky, heading deeper into the city.

'_Things..they certainly have changed since my time..'_

Shendu was taken aback by all that he saw as he floated through the city streets, the bright lights reminding him of the laterns that hung during new years festivities, the demon fighting a bitter taste in his mouth at the fact that it was him who started that tradition in the first place.

If for nothing more than to keep his subjects in line, and to make sure none of them dared to cross him, though given he had been usurped anyhow, it was another bitter taste that he was quick to swallow.

Though, he couldn't help but be almost impressed at what mortals have accomplished over the past nine hundred years, even if they didn't have magic like he himself once had.

Still, this new time..this new world..even with the things alex had explained and read to him thus far, it was still very overwhelming.

Glancing up at the night sky, he was somewhat calmed by the fact that it was still the same even after these nine hundred long years.

"It's so odd that out of everything, it is the stars in the sky that calm me.."

Taking one last look at the sky, Shendu twisted his astral body around and began to float back towards section 13, knowing he would have more chances to observe this world and the mortals that inhabited it.

Besides, as much as he wished to, he couldn't stay out all night, lest the mortals he was 'allied' with get suspicious.

The demon soon saw the familiar yellow bricked and red roofed building, a warm feeling rising up in his astral body, which he quickly dismissed as nothing, and yet he stopped in front of the shop, and just floated in place.

The mortals that called this place home were all likely asleep, and as his thoughts slowly combined into an idea, a smirk began to form on his face.

Shendu phased into the shop through its front door, the crescent moon's light pouring in through the glass front windows, illuminating the dark space within, and allowing the demon to navigate it easier.

He lamented not having the power of heat vision, as it meant he would not have to use the light of the moon to see where he was going, but it would be his again, eventually, as they all would.

Shendu floated his way through the room, taking note of the artifacts this '_Uncle'_ kept here, noting they were well kept, if a bit mismanaged.

He floated up to the second floor, seeing a row of doors ahead of him, all of them painted the same red color as the tiled roof of the building, deciding to chance it, he phased into a door at random, appearing on the other side of it.

His red eyes rested on the old man, remembering everyone called him Uncle, though for what reason the demon had no clue.

Shendu floated towards the sleeping Uncle, though as he got only a few inches away a barrier of good magic formed around them and it pushed the demon away, which caused him to yell in pain.

'_Damned old fool put up a shield of good magic on himself..clever indeed.'_

He phased back out into the hallway, going to the next door down, phasing through it as he had before.

The demon's eye's scanned the room, noting the occupant that was snoring in the bed that sat against the wall, recognizing him as Jackie, the one who helped release him from that tomb, only to put him into another, one made of metal.

Though, he did have to be at least a tiny bit thankful for the fact that he did free him from that accursed tomb, allowing Shendu the possibility to exact his revenge against his future subjects.

He decided to try what he had with the old man, however, before he could get near him he recoiled, the same painful zap the felt not moments before hitting him again.

'_It appears that the old fool has placed the same spell onto him..and likely onto the child as well.'_

He went into his thoughts for a few moments, before another smirk crossed his face.

Maybe Uncle hadn't gotten to him yet.

Exiting the room, he went down the hall, ignoring the door just past the one he just phased through, and turned, phasing through the last door at the end of the hall.

Once inside, he scanned the room, his eye's glowing again as they rested on the one occupant, who was currently snoring lightly in their bed, and that's when Shendu knew where he was.

The demon's eyes rested on the man, his sleeping form laying rather lazily in the bed, his left arm hanging over the side of it, tips of his fingers barely touching the floor.

he noticed the peaceful smile that decorated the mortal's face, so they were at least in a sleep deep enough to dream, as well as it seemed he wasn't having a nightmare, which he could take more advantage of.

He took a breath before he dove into the man's head, phasing into his mind and entering into his dreams.

•_In His Dream•_

It was like he was in a storm in the middle of the ocean, tossing and turning the demon's astral form as though it was a piece of driftwood, but it soon dumped him onto solid, or at least it felt solid, ground.

Though, Shendu winced and shut his eyes, hissing as he was blinded by the very bright sunlight he suddenly found himself in.

'_Gah..why the hell is it so damn bright?!'_

The sorcerer slowly opened them, allowing them to adjust slowly, and revealing he was in the middle of a field of wheat, a breeze blowing by that made it sway but not break.

Rather than float through, he floated upwards, and once above them the demon realized that he seemed to be on a farm, seeing a rather old looking red painted barn behind a large home.

The two buildings were in front of what seemed like a forest, given the density of trees behind them, but it was an inconsequential thought for now, as Shendu floated towards the house.

He let his thoughts drift a little as he approached the home, letting himself into the house by phasing through the front door.

The interior wasn't anything to gawk at, simple in it's design with a couch that sat in front of two large windows, a television sat upon the wall in front of the couch, a table sitting in the middle between the two.

In the corner sat a fireplace, currently unlit, and shendu had to guess that it was set up in a way that when lit, it would radiate heat to the whole room.

Along the wall next to the fireplace, Shendu noticed that there were alot of picture frames, and all of them seemed to be of people at various ages and times, noting some of the photos looked much older than others, and some having little timestamps on them.

"Oh hey! I guess it's better for you to come now than when everyone's here, but since your here, want me to show you around?" The man asked.

The demon said nothing, but kept his eyes on the mortal in front of him, as well as kept his face neutral.

'_He believes me to be a part of his dream..'_

"..if you must, i hope this family of yours won't freak out when they see me." Shendu answered, which made the mortal smile softly, though inwardly, the demon was smirking widely.

Following him, they went outside back into the early afternoon sun, walking around the house and heading towards the barn he had seen earlier.

He watched the man pull open one of the wooden doors with ease, likely due to his semi-athletic build, before the demon floated over to them, following him inside and up a set of stairs, to another door, only smaller and seemingly made of a different kind of wood.

"Welcome to my humble abode." The man said as he opened the door, moving past it, Shendu phasing through Alex's stomach to enter before he moved.

Like the interior of the house, this room wasn't anything to gawk at, and from looking around the room, he could see a few bookshelves against one of the walls, filled with books of all kinds, and along another wall was a dresser with several odd things on top of it, none of which the demon recognized.

Against the wall to his left was another set of bookshelves, but they were empty, as well as a window that showed some kind of field a good distance away outside, shendu recognizing it as the field he found himself in when he first arrived.

"You do not live in that home?" The demon asked as the man sat down on the bed that sat against the back wall.

"No, i moved out when i graduated high school. My dad and grandpa made this loft for me to live in, since I couldn't afford an apartment at the time." He answered.

"When was this?" Shendu asked, coiling onto the human's bed like a snake, which, given what his astral form looked like, felt very fitting.

"Hmm..i think around..summer of '97." The man answered, having gone into thought for a moment or two.

The demon said nothing, instead choosing to let the mortal talk, besides, he had to play along with this.

"Not long after I took the placement test for university and moved to San Francisco, where I met Jackie, since he was my history & archeology professor." Alex said.

Shendu's eye's moved about the room, at least what he could see, till they rested upon something out of place.

It was a wooden picture frame, though the glass appeared to have been smashed some time ago, but it still held together with spider web like cracks running all through it.

The man took notice, standing up and going where the demon was looking, kneeling down and picking up the picture frame, and though Shendu couldn't see it, the man had an almost..regretful look on his face.

"..I thought i got rid of this years ago.."

The demon's eyebrow, if he had any, raised in curiosity. "What is important about that picture frame?"

He noticed the man's body tense up, his hand gripping the picture frame tighter than he had a moment ago, as if his mind was fighting itself, which the demon found slightly amusing.

The man then stood onto his feet, still holding the frame in his fingers, yet was careful about it as he walked back over to the bed, setting the picture frame on the small table sat beside the bed.

Uncoiling and laying himself across the mortal's legs, he could finally see what the frame contained, which was a picture of Alex with another man, though he looked much younger, and with a smile on his face.

The demon could tell something was off about the photo, other than the fact that the cracked glass made it hard to really see the exact details, but he couldn't put his claws onto what exactly it was.

"..it's of me and my..ex boyfriend." Alex said, though he said the last part of his sentence through clenched teeth, indicating to Shendu that he held some contempt towards them.

There was a silence between them that seemed to last for an eternity, in reality however it was only a few minutes, until the man decided to speak up.

"..you've got nothing to say to that?"

Shendu raised his head so he was looking up at the mortal, though their eyes did not meet.

"..What are you expecting me to say?" The demon answered.

Not that he really had a problem with it, as it was more common back in his time than really anyone would believe.

"I don't know..a witty remark, a smartass comment, something the real Shendu would say." Alex said.

The demon almost took that as an insult, but then again, the man had no idea he was the real shendu nor that he was speaking to him, so he brushed it off.

"What exactly happened?" Shendu asked, again, looking up at him as he had before.

Not that the demon really cared, but he could use this opportunity to learn something useful that he could use down the line if necessary.

"..i caught him cheating on me." Alex answered.

Once again, Shendu said nothing, but let his thoughts take over as he took note of the man's tone in his voice as he answered, much like his body language earlier.

'_If i had caught any of my concubines doing such a thing..they would've been a pile of charred ash at my feet.'_

'_Though i must admit, i do respect him for having one, as they can be quite a handful, but..why does he feel so..angry, yet sad about it..? Unless..'_

However, before their conversation could continue further, the room around them began to fade away, mist forming as it did so, which indicated Alex was waking up.

"Aww man, guess you won't be getting to meet my family after all.."

"There is always next time." Shendu said, which the man nodded to.

Of course, there would be a next time, as this was certainly an opportunity the demon would take full advantage of, but he had to leave before the man fully awoke, so, with what little magic he had in this form, he took momentary control of the mist, engulfing himself with it, which allowed him to sneak away unseen and back out into the real world.

Once Shendu was out of Alex's mind, noticing the sun only starting to rise through the small window next to the bed, giving him a final glance before he phased out of the roof of the shop, heading back into section 13 and into his body, making his red eye's glow once again.


	14. Chapter 14

•_Section 13•_

"Sorry i'm late, Captain Black." Alex said as he entered into a large gymnasium like room, equipment having apparently been put away, so the room was bare enough that no one could or would get hurt.

A large wrestling mat had been placed on the floor, that covered most of the center of the room as well.

"It is alright, i'd rather have you here late than not at all." The man said.

Alex set his bag down off to the side, which contained a change of clothes, as well as a large water bottle, which was clipped onto the bag itself.

Speaking of clothing, Alex had on a simple black tank top and gym shorts, with a pair of tennis shoes to match, perfect for what they had met to do.

"Ready to practice?" Captain black asked, a small smirk decorating his face.

"Hmph. Do you really need to ask, captain?" Alex answered, both standing still, their eyes not moving from the other for a few moments before Captain Black rushed him suddenly.

The man sidestepped his rush, managing to block a sudden kick, though the impact still knocked him away but he managed to stay on his feet as Alex both blocked and threw punches and kicks to match Captain black's own.

Captain black had suggested this training when Alex had first been brought to Section 13, of course under threat of being charged with treason if he ever told anyone about it, but he was surprised at how much the younger man already knew after their first training session.

"_How are you feeling?" The older man asked._

"_Pretty good, given what happened and all." The younger man answered, stretching his arms and legs._

"_Your back isn't hurting too bad, is it?" He asked, putting a hand on his shoulder._

"_It feels fine, for the most part, I took my pain medicine just in case a flare up happens." Alex answered._

_Black nodded. "You'll tell me otherwise, yes?" He asked._

"_Of course, now, show me what you've got." The younger man answered as they both rushed towards the center of the mat._

"_I must say, i'm impressed." Captain black said as he helped the younger man up off the matted floor._

"_I..get that alot" Alex said as he, shakily at first, stood on his two feet, though the man was sure he would sore not long after this._

"_Where did you learn how to fight?" Captain Black asked._

"_My dad taught me, actually, he taught my older sister and brother too." The younger man answered, a smile forming on his face._

"_Where did your father learn?" He asked._

"_He was in the army during Vietnam, my mom was at home taking care of my older siblings." Alex answered._

"_That explains why I recognized the form you were using. Textbook." Black said, as the two men stepped off the mat._

Even despite Alex managing to block the strikes, Captain Black still got a few good hits in, which immediately began to turn a very light purple under his shirt and shorts, but thankfully weren't painful, yet anyway.

That isn't to say the younger man didn't get a few good hits in himself, though neither of them could continue given they were pretty out of breath and sweat was dripping off them, so they decided to take a break.

"Captain Black sir!" A voice said, followed by one of Black's agents running into the room.

"Simmons, what's wrong?" He asked, wrapping a towel around his neck.

"We have confirmation that the Dark Hand is flying towards India, no clue as to why, however." Simmons answered.

"That must be where the next talisman is..i'll call Jackie and let him know." Alex said, running over to his bag.

"I'll get you guys a flight ready in the meantime, Alex, we'll pick this back up when you get back." Captain Black said, exiting the room.

The younger man dug his phone out of his bag, as well as the change of clothes and a fluffy light green towel, before heading to the showers nearby, which thankfully were empty.

He sat his clothes on the long wooden bench, unlocking his phone and dialing Jackie's number, setting it to his ear.

"Come on..pick up..-" the man said, but after it rang a few times, the automated message of 'leave a message after the beep', played.

"..Jackie, The Dark Hand are on their way to India as we speak, meet me at the airport once you get this message, ok?" Alex said, afterwards pressing the end call button before removing his gym clothes and getting in one of the nearby shower stalls, turning it on and shutting the door.

His eyes glanced downward, catching sight of a shade of light pink on his chest, which seemed to curve gracefully across both sides, joining in the center of his chest like two hands with their fingers intertwined.

The man shakily raised a hand up to his chest, his fingers gently touching the center on his chest where the scars met, and moved his fingers along one of them, before going back and along the other.

It felt almost nostalgic, in a way.

He let a soft smile decorate his face, removing his hand and turning off the shower, grabbing the towel hanging outside the door, and drying himself off, before wrapping it around his waist and exiting the shower.

The man walked over to the bench, grabbing the clean set of clothes and slipping it all on.

He tossed the dirty clothes and towel into the bag, zipping and picking it up, as he headed back to the shop to drop it off and then got a ride to the airport with captain black.

•_In the Airport•_

"Thanks for the lift, Captain." Alex said as he stepped out of the car, Black handing him two plane tickets, one for him and the other for Jackie, who arrived in a taxi not a moment later and went over to them.

"Alex, i got your message." Jackie said as he gave him his ticket.

"Come on, we don't have a second to lose!"

Jackie said as he and the younger man ran into the airport and caught a flight to India,

hoping that they could get to the talisman before they did.

Unfortunately, the dark hand were ahead by a good few hours, not to mention the thirteen hour time zone difference between San Francisco and India, so they didn't have much in terms of time, still, they hoped that maybe they would find it first and figure out what magic it possessed.

•_Somewhere in India•_

A commuter motorcycle could be seem driving down the road, gracefully maneuvering between any other cars that were with them, attached to the side of it was a sidecar, in which sat Alex, who had zipped up his jacket as the wind whipping past them was rather cold, though it did little to keep the man from shivering.

Especially since he was holding the talisman tracker and the man didn't want to drop it and possibly lose or break it.

"Did you really have to take this motorcycle from that g-guy, j-jackie?" Alex asked.

"I did say I would bring it back, besides, walking would take too long." Jackie answered.

"And what if that guy called the cops on us?" Alex said, as they took a left off the asphalt road, moving from asphalt to dirt and into the jungle, after a while they went past what looked like a massive field of tea leaves, some workers carrying large baskets filled to the brim with them on their backs.

In the distance were a few buildings, the lights being on in one of them, likely where they processed the leaves, being followed by a larger building, it's lights turned off, but Alex had to assume it was a storage warehouse for the processed leaves,

'_Maybe i can get gramps some tea leave-'_

The man felt himself stop mid-thought as it felt as though there were a metaphorical frog in his throat.

'_D-did i just call Uncle..?' _He felt his face heat up, which helped with the cold, but before he could process this thought any further, they came to a stop, kicking up some dust in the process.

Upon the dust settling, in front of the duo stood a massive temple, the architecture worn and roughened with age and vines and other plant life having taken over all of it.

Upon the top of the temple was placed a large dome, just as worn as the rest of the temple beneath it, but had a large crack in it that went from the bottom and curved, ending at the top.

Unfortunately a familiar vehicle was parked near the entrance of the temple, both of them recognizing it as the same one the dark hand used back in Australia.

"Oh man they beat us here!" Alex said.

"They may have beaten us here, but they may not have found the talisman yet, which means we can still get it before they do, come on!" Jackie said as he grabbed the younger mans arm and they both headed into the temple.

•_Inside the Temple•_

Alex and Jackie entered what seemed to be in the main area of the temple, but immediately hid behind some stone pillars, the older man giving the younger one the '_shh'_ finger as he pointed to the three stooges, as Alex liked to call them, who seemed to be arguing.

"It has to be here somewhere!" Finn said.

"We've searched everywhere! Under every statue and inside every jar!" Chow said, kicking a nearby small jar, which shattered into pieces.

"And where the hell did Yuzuki go off to anyway?!" Chow continued, breaking another vase.

"..I'll go after Yuzuki, can you handle those three?" Alex asked quietly, as to not attract attention.

Jackie gave a thumbs up, before he stepped out.

"Are you guys looking for something? Perhaps i can help." He said, which caused the three of them to turn around.

"Chan!" The three of them said as they rushed him, managing to dodge Ratso's kick and Chow's punch in the process, allowing the younger man to sneak away and deeper into the temple.

Meanwhile, Alex was following the talisman tracker, carefully scanning his surroundings should Yuzuki pop up from out of nowhere, and to try and locate the talisman before they did.

He took a turn down a hallway, entering out into what seemed like a courtyard garden, or what was left of one, as what the man supposed were statues had withered down to husks of their former selves, and plant life had seemingly fully taken over, covering most of the courtyard around him.

'The trackers pointing..into that overgrowth..?' He thought, carefully moving over it, the tracker glowing brightly as if an inferno were crackling inside of it, threatening to break free.

Using his free hand, he unhooked the machete from it's belt loop holder, thankful he had purchased it before Jackie "borrowed" that motorcycle, and begin to cut and hack at the overgrowth in front of him.

Soon, it revealed a statue, height much like the one he saw in the spirit world, though it was instead a depiction of the god Shiva, it's surface weathered and cracked, plant life covering it like everything around it, but overall it was seemingly in much better shape.

Scanning the statue, a reflection of light caught his attention, and his eyes followed it, seeing that, in its chest, was the talisman, engraved upon it was the black outline of a rat.

Using the machete as leverage, he managed to pop the talisman out, catching it in his left hand before he slipped it into his jacket pocket-

He quickly spun around, managing to block a punch, but before the man could react, he took a hard knee to his side, followed by a quick disarm that knocked the machete out of his hand and it landed on the floor with a loud clunk sound.

"Yuzuki." Alex said, eyes narrowing.

"Mister Greyson, I must say I'm almost impressed." The man said as he took his glasses off to clean them, before he put them back on.

"I know why you're here." The younger man said.

"And I know you have what i've been looking for, so why don't you just hand it over and we can call this even." Yuzuki said as he held out his hand, opening it flat with his other behind his back.

"Like hell. You'll have to take it from my cold dead hand before I would ever give it to you." Alex said.

"..i see. Well, while i don't intend to kill you..i will happily beat you into unconsciousness." He said.

•_Back with Jackie•_

"Haven't you three had enough yet?" Jackie asked.

Chow, Ratso and Finn were on the floor, all three of them groaning in pain and exhaustion, not that that was any real surprise.

"..What a surprise, Chan has beaten you three again." A voice said.

Turning around, Jackie saw Yuzuki walking into the room, buttoning the cuffs on his suit jacket, his face seemingly starting to bruise in places, including his left eye, and what looked like blood dripped from his nose.

However, a sick feeling rose in the man's gut, which caused him to blurt out his next sentence.

"Where's Alex!? You better not have-!" He said.

"Calm yourself, Chan, Mister Greyson is alright, though he certainly isn't unharmed." Yuzuki said as he calmly walked past him, heading for the exit before he glanced back.

"If you three are done, we must get going." They said.

Ratso, Finn and Chow messily picked themselve up and followed Yuzuki out, Jackie heading to where he came from.

•_A Few Minutes Earlier•_

Alex blocked a punch, gripping it with his hand and twisted it before he yanked towards him, throwing a hard elbow into Yuzuki's face, hitting him in the eye and knocking him away in the process.

However, Yuzuki gripped onto the younger man's wrist, yanking them towards him, getting a hard knee directly to his abdomen, which simultaneously knocked all the air of Alex's body, but also cause his muscles to seize up, but he managed to gain momentary control and threw a punch that hit the older man directly in the nose.

Alex stumbled back once Yuzuki released his wrist, though he didn't stay on his feet long as he crumbled onto the ground, wheezing as he attempted to regain his breath.

Yuzuki trudged over to the younger man, using one of his feet to roll him over onto his back, and bent over to pick up the talisman that had fallen out of his jacket pocket, the man making a feeble attempt to reach for it as he picked it up.

"..No.."

"Do not worry, we will put this talisman to good use." The older man said as he calmly walked away.

•_In the Present•_

Jackie ran through the halls, frantically searching for the younger man, calling out his name as his footsteps echoed around him.

"Alex, where are you?!" He said, worry dripping from his voice as he kept searching.

At that moment, a loud cough broke through the air, and the older man followed it, soon coming out into the courtyard, feeling relief as he saw the younger man sitting on the cobbled floor.

"..Jackie.." Alex said, a smile forming on his face as he laid his eyes on his friend.

"Alex, I thought Yuzuki.." he said, kneeling down and looking the man over.

"..I'm ok..just some scrapes and a couple of bruises.." the younger man said.

"Do you have the talisman?" Jackie asked.

The younger man looked at the ground, coughing again as a feeling of failure filled him.

"No..Yuzuki took it from me..I'm sorry jackie.." Alex answered.

Jackie wrapped an arm around them, gently lifting them onto their feet, the younger man wrapping his left arm across his shoulders, before they began to walk out.

"It's alright, they were bound to get one of the talisman's eventually..but we will get it back from them." The older man said.

Alex nodded, Jackie helping him into the sidecar of the motorcycle, as he got onto the seat and turned over the engine and drove off, heading back to the airport.

They returned the motorcycle, and got on their return flight to San Francisco, the older man immediately falling asleep as the flight took off, but the younger man couldn't, the feeling of failure mixed with guilt was eating at him, especially since he had no clue as to how Shendu would take the news.

'_I just have to be truthful and honest, no if's, and's, or buts about it..'_

The man let out a quiet sigh and laid back in his seat, glancing out of the window, internally counting down the seconds till they were back home, but that did nothing to drown the dread that was building inside him.

•_San Francisco•_

The cab soon pulled up in front of Uncle's shop, both men getting out, though while the older man headed into the shop, the younger headed for the secret entrance to Section 13, activating the elevator and heading into the actual facility.

Given it was around 6am, no one seemed to be around, but thankfully he didn't need permission for what he was going to do, as after the elevator stopped and the man got out, he headed directly to the vault, entered in the code and stepped in after the door opened.

"You took longer than i expected, and here i thought you went and did something foolish again." Shendu said, a television remote floating in mid air, being held aloft by the rooster talisman's power.

It was likely some kind of history/documentary program, as the mortal had noticed it was what the demon sorcerer had found a deep interest in.

"You know, long flights and all that jazz.." The man asked, stretching his arms out and hearing the joints pop.

"..Where is the talisman?" The demon asked, their eye's flaring for a moment.

"..i lost it..i got into a fight with the dark hand and they managed to snatch it from me." Alex answered.

The room went deathly silent after, neither of them uttering a breath, but both of them inwardly wondering who would break it.

"..You know, i was honestly terrified to tell you since i thought you'd be pissed but..it seems you're taking it pretty well." The man said.

"Um..don't worry, we'll get it ba-" Alex said, or at least tried to, before he felt his body stiffen, followed by being lifted in the air and brought closer to Shendu's face.

"YOU LOST IT?!" The demon yelled.

'_Ok, yea he is pissed..'_ the man thought with a gulp as he winced in pain due to the loud noise, and the massive amount of static noise that filled his head didn't help either.

"I-it was an accident! I-" Alex tried to say but Shendu cut him off.

"I do not care if it was an accident, it will not be repeated! Do I make myself clear?!" The demon said, his tone dripping with what the mortal could only describe as pure anger.

"C-crystal c-clear.." the man said.

That answer seemed to satisfy him, as he released the man from his telekinetic hold, letting him fall to the floor in a heap.

Alex quickly scooted away from the demon, somehow managing to scramble up onto his feet as he got out of the vault and pressed the button to shut the door, and once it was the man started to make his way down the hallway to the elevator.

The man's body couldn't stop shaking as he walked, so he wrapped his own arms around his frame in an attempt to calm himself, but it was for naught as he fell back against the wall, slowly sliding down it until he was on the floor.

His breath was ragged as he pulled his knees up to his chest, curling himself up into a ball, and just let the tears fall from his eyes..


End file.
